PORTLAND, Maine - Several hundred friends, family members and politicians filled the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland Wednesday night for the dedication of former Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan’s archives.
Brennan, who also served in Congress, denounced the overwhelming influence of big money in elections. "The rise of money in politics is closely related, in many ways, I think, to the decline in incomes for working people.”
Brennan, 81, also decried what he called the militarization of U.S. foreign policy.
Former Maine U.S. Sen. George Mitchell praised Brennan’s political career and talked of the importance of immigrants to the growth of the United States. Brennan’s parents emigrated from Ireland.
Brennan served as Maine's governor from 1979 to 1987.