AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine Republicans are hoping to put a period of internal turmoil behind them as they elect a new state party leader.
The GOP state committee meets Saturday to choose between two candidates for chair: Rich Cebra, who's completed four years as state representative from Naples, and Beth O'Connor of Berwick, who lost her bid for a second House term this November.
The winner will replace Charlie Webster, who helped engineer weeping Republican gains in 2010 but later led a party tarnished by unproven voter fraud charges, a major rift and big losses in this fall's elections.
Cebra is considered an establishment candidate. O'Connor is a longtime Ron Paul supporter. Committee members say the outcome won't signal a victory for any philosophical view, but as a mandate to reunify the party.
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