district predecessor successor religion birth_place party state_house websites birth_date order term_start article_title term_end name alma_mater
norway mike michaud dana c. hanley david r. hastings , iii protestant portland , maine republican maine -lsb- http://www.bennettformaine.com www.bennettformaine.com -rsb- 24 may 1963 maine senate president december 2001 1996 richard a. bennett
 december 2002 2004 richard a. bennett b.a. from harvard university in 1986 -lrb- honors -rrb-
richard a. bennett

richard a. `` rick '' bennett -lrb- born may 24 , 1963 -rrb- is an american politician from the state of maine and a current resident of oxford , maine .
bennett is the president and ceo of valueedge advisors , a firm he founded in summer 2014 to help institutional investors engage with their portfolio companies .
from 2006 to 2014 he served as ceo of the corporate library and then chairman or vice chairman of gmi ratings , its successor company , an independent research firm focusing on corporate governance , director/executive compensation and forensic accounting .
for six years , bennett was included in the nacd directorship 100 's most influential people in the boardroom and corporate governance community .
as a norway resident , bennett served as the president of the maine senate .
he became senate president due to a unique power sharing agreement between republicans and democrats , predicated by an even split in state senators .
the deal gave the presidency to both parties for one year each during the two-year term of the senate .
bennett served four terms in the maine senate , two terms in the maine house of representatives and in 1994 he was the republican nominee for congress in maine 's second district , losing to john baldacci in a close race .
on may 2 , 2008 he was elected to a four-year term as maine 's republican national committeeman .
in 2006 , he considered running for governor of maine , but instead decided to remain in the private sector .
his name was widely circulated as a possible candidate for the republican nomination for governor in 2010 , though he ultimately decided against running .
in november 2012 , bennett sought the republican nomination for the u.s. senate seat vacated by olympia snowe , but he was defeated by maine secretary of state charlie summers .
on july 20 , 2013 , bennett was elected chairman of the maine republican party , replacing former state representative richard cebra of naples .
in 2015 , bennett was unanimously re-elected to serve an additional term as the chairman of the maine republican party .
