Maine Republicans should raise a bloody Mary to Paul Coulombe for the tens of thousands of dollars he has given their party and candidates – dollars he made selling his vodka brands to a national corporation.
A 61-year-old multi-millionaire, Coulombe is that rare bird in Maine politics: a rich guy who sides with the traditional party of businessmen.
This election cycle he has given $160,000 to the Maine Republican Party, which in turns supports GOP candidates for the Legislature and opposes Democratic candidates, mostly with mailings and other forms of advertising.
He also gave $2,500 to the campaign to re-elect Sen. Susan Collins and $375 to a Republican candidate for the Maine House from Boothbay Harbor, near where Coulombe lives in the summer.
Coulombe has also given from his Florida address $5,200 to Congressional candidate Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, and $5,000 to the Lincoln County GOP committee.
The Lewiston native’s wealth comes from the sale of White Rock Distilleries, the business that his family purchased in 1971, when son Paul was a teenager. According to his profile on the University of Maine site (he’s a 1975 grad and was class president) the Coulombe family “built White Rock into a major industry player through acquisitions, expansion, and the development of new technologies.”
Revenue grew from $1 million to $300 million with such popular brands as Pinnacle and Three Olives vodka, and Calico Jack rum.
In 2012, the company was sold for $600 million to Beam Inc., the whiskey maker that has since been purchased by Suntory Holdings of Japan.
Coulombe described himself “as not a true Republican … I’m a fiscal conservative but a social moderate or liberal. I think entitlements have gone too far and people who are physically able to work should do so.”
He is also “a big fan of Paul LePage,” to whom he gave $750 four years ago. “Like myself, we are hardworking Lewiston boys,” adding that the governor has had “bad press from the rags in Maine.”
Coulombe has also been in the news for his extravagant home on Pratts Island in Southport, near Boothbay, and his remaking of the Boothbay Country Club.
His island estate on six acres is almost 18,000 square feet, about 10 times bigger than the typical Maine home. A feature on his home, in Downeast magazine, was titled “Magnum Opus.” The luxurious home includes a double-arched ceiling like one Coulombe had seen in Versailles and every bedroom has its own sitting area, bar, and sun porch.
The Boothbay region booster purchased the golf club there when no one else came forward, according to a report in the Portland Press Herald. He is in the process of a $30 million rehab project that includes an already-redesigned course, with a new clubhouse to come. It will replace the modest clubhouse with one 10 times as big.
