BRUNSWICK

Maine Street bookstore owner Gary Lawless says local Green Independent party members, provoked by his support of a local Democrat, have threatened to stop patronizing his shop.

Lawless, a strident Democrat, supports Senate District 10 incumbent Stan Gerzofsky and House District 66 candidate Mattie Daughtry, and has their campaign signs displayed in the windows of his store, Gulf of Maine Books.

But the signs’ presence apparently provoked the ire of local Greens, who Lawless said threatened to buy their books elsewhere when he refused to display signs for Fred Horch, the Green Independent candidate for House District 66.

“They didn’t say ‘boycott,’ exactly,” Lawless told The Times Record Wednesday. “What they said was that leaving the signs in the window would have ‘economic consequences.’”

Lawless sent an email to several friends after the Oct. 20 incidents, describing two separate encounters at the store he owns and operates with his wife, Beth Leonard, involving unnamed but prominent members of Brunswick’s local Green Independent party.

One of the alleged episodes took place in the store; the other, over the phone.

“It has been suggested that (the signs) will have a negative impact on our business,” Lawless’s message reads, “but so far we have survived Bookland, Borders and Amazon, so a Green boycott is not a threat, just a disappointment.”

Lawless declined to name the irate Greens.

“What makes it weird, though, is that they’re people we know well, who’ve been customers for years,” Lawless said. “We’ve always supported Green ideals, if not their actual candidates.”

Horch said he only recently learned of the incident and that his family is very upset by its occurrence.

“This is just ridiculous, it’s been a crazy campaign,” he said, alluding to other political hijinx, such as a recent controversy sparked when Republicans posted Horch signs on their lawns, apparently hoping to split progressive votes and sway the election to conservatives.

The flap is also the latest evidence of a widening chasm among Maine progressives, who abandoned their support for a Democrat in the race for governor in 2010 and are repeating their move to the center this year in the race for an open U.S. Senate seat.

“I really don’t know what’s going on here, but it does seem like it’s gotten out of hand,” Horch added.

In an email sent Wednesday afternoon, Horch condemned the alleged boycott:

“A firm principle of my campaign strategy is to respect people who have chosen not to support me. … It is very frustrating that this core principle of respect in conducting my campaign has been undermined, needlessly involving Gulf of Maine (Books) and reflecting poorly on Greens.”

Horch also said he planned to apologize personally to Lawless and Leonard.

Lawless’s email alludes to the identity of one of the irate Greens. However, when contacted Wednesday afternoon by The Times Record, that person denied having caused a confrontation. He admitted making a telephone call to the store, but characterized the result of the call as “a total misunderstanding” and “a fabulous miscommunication.”

Andy Cashman, chairman of the Brunswick Democratic Town Committee, condemned what he described as “increasing hysteria” with regard to the approaching Nov. 6 election.

“We want to support local businesses however we can,” Cashman said. “It’s unfortunate that anyone would resort to those sorts of tactics.”

When the front window at Gulf of Maine Books was broken — also on the night of Oct. 20 — Lawless attributed the vandalism to “alcoholrelated stupidity,” not political intrigue.

“It happens every so often,” he said, and shrugged.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com