Charles E. Summers, Jr.

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Charlie Summers is a politician, war veteran, and small businessman. He is currently a Republican candidate for United States Congress in Maine's 1st congressional district in 2008, and is concurrently serving on active duty with the U.S. Navy in Baghdad, Iraq.

[edit] History

Summers is a former State Senator from Maine, and a former top aide to U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. Most recently, he served as the New England Regional Administrator (Region I) for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and was sworn in as the New England Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration on March 7, 2005. In this capacity, he was responsible for oversight of SBA District Offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and has oversight of the SBA's Financing, Marketing and Outreach efforts in the six-state region.

Prior to assuming his position with the SBA, Mr. Summers served as State Director for United States Senator Olympia J. Snowe from 1995 to 2004. Charlie served as both an advisor and a strong advocate for Mainers who needed assistance navigating federal agencies. In 1990, Summers was elected to the Maine State Senate (District 32) and served on the Joint Standing Committees on Legal Affairs and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Upon re-election in 1992 he served as the ranking member on the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation. He ran unsuccessfully for United States Congress in Maine's first Congressional district in 1994 and 2004.

Summers also serves as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In March of 2007, it was announced that Summers had been recalled to active duty by the U.S. Navy. Summers was last recalled to active duty after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He was deployed to Iraq in July 2007 to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, attached to Navy Strategic Communications, and concluded his deployment in May 2008, when he returned home to Maine.^{[citation needed]} Summers' wife, Ruth, acted as his campaign surrogate during his absence, campaigning on his behalf.

Summers grew up in his family's hotel business and later managed motels in Bangor, Maine and South Portland, Maine, and has owned and run his own small businesses. Born in Danville, Illinois in 1959, Summers grew up in Kewanee, Illinois, and moved to Maine in 1983. He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.