When you get to know Charlie Summers, you’ll agree he’ll do more for Maine in Congress.

As a father, businessman, legislator, and veteran, Charlie has the experience and background to stand up for our interests in Washington.

In the uncertain days after September 11, 2001, Charlie served with distinction in the Pentagon as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves, supporting the U.S. fight against terrorism. More recently, Charlie once again answered the call to serve his country in May 2007 and was recalled to Active Duty.  He is currently a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserve assigned to the Communications Division of the Strategic Effects Directorate, Multi National Forces – Baghdad, Iraq.

For the past two years, Charlie has served as the New England Regional Administrator to the U.S. Small Business Administration.  In that capacity, he managed SBA District Offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and had oversight of the SBA’s Financing, Marketing and Outreach efforts in the six-state region. 

A Scarborough resident, Charlie beat the odds to win election to Senate District 31 (Saco, Biddeford, Dayton, Scarborough, and Old Orchard Beach), defeating a popular former seven-term State Senator in 1990 and quickly rising to prominence in the Legislature. In his first term, he was selected as Ranking Republican on the Committee on Legal Affairs, and following his re-election became lead Republican on the legislature’s Taxation Committee. Later, he sought his party’s nomination for Congress.

In 1995, U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe chose Charlie as her State Director. As Senator Snowe’s top Maine staffer, Charlie served as both a trusted advisor and a strong advocate for Mainers who needed help navigating federal agencies. His compassion, and close interaction with federal and state agencies, military installations, veterans’ service organizations and key business leaders, made

him an extraordinarily effective advocate.

Charlie is schooled in national security matters as a Public Affairs Officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. When terrorists attacked American soil on September 11, 2001, Charlie was recalled to active duty and served as an aide to the  Secretary of the Navy in the Pentagon in support of the global war against  terrorism. After seven months of active duty, he returned to his Maine responsibilities, where he serves as a Training Officer for NR SOUDA  BAY based at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine.

Born in 1959, Charlie was raised in Kewanee, Illinois. After graduating from Kewanee High School in 1978, he received his A.A. from Blackhawk College-East and his B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign.

Charlie and his wife, Ruth, reside in Scarborough with their two children, Tricia, currently working in NY, and Chas, a midshipman at the US Naval Academy.