Rodney Sharon Quinn (May 27, 1923 – October 27, 2012) was an American politician from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served as the

Secretary of State of Maine The secretary of state of Maine is a constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Maine and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The Secretary of State performs duties of both a legislative branch as well as an executive branch off ...

from 1979 to 1988. He was first elected to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

in 1974, after running three times from Gorham. He served as Assistant Majority Leader in the 108th legislature (1977-1979). At 16, Quinn enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and two years later entered pilot training in the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He served as a pilot in 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the

Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

in mainland

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as one of seven forward air observers under general

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

as well as piloting transport planes. He spent the next 27 years in the Army Air Corp and later the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, retiring at 45 as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He attended college while in the Air Force and, after nine years of night school, Quinn earned a B.A. from

Sacramento State College California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

followed by a M.A. in political science from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He began a Ph.D. at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

but ended his studies when his wife developed cancer, leaving the Air Force during her surgery, from which she recovered fully. He moved to Maine with his wife and their four children, and taught at

Cheverus High School Cheverus High School (simply referred to as Cheverus, formerly The Catholic Institute High School) is a private, Jesuit, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Portland, Maine, United States. It was established in 1917 and is located in t ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, during which time he was elected to the Gorham Town Council. Maine is one of three state to elect constitutional officers by legislature, not directly from voters, which leads to the majority party electing their candidate. In 1978, Quinn was elected as the

by the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

by one vote over Republican former gubernatorial candidate

Linwood Palmer Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia * Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

, despite a two-seat majority for the Republicans in the Legislature.

Political Views

Quinn advocated for a return to

machine politics In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership con ...

, in which party bosses largely decide the party nominee, not "activists". He advocated for the return of the straight ticket device, which was removed in 1972 in Maine, to ensure party loyalty. In April 2011, Quinn published an op-ed in the ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

'' criticizing

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

independent candidate for Governor

Eliot Cutler Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is a former American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing ...

with helping to elect Republican governor

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 74th Governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, LePage served two terms as a city councilor in Waterville, Maine, before being ...

, calling Cutler ''"a distraction and a danger"''. Cutler finished second to LePage and nearly 100,000 votes ahead of Democratic nominee

Libby Mitchell Elizabeth H. Mitchell (born Elizabeth Anne Harrill on June 22, 1940) is an American politician from Maine. Mitchell, a Democrat, represented part of Kennebec County in the Maine Senate from 2004 to 2010. Mitchell was also the Democrats' 2010 ...

, but approximately 10,000 votes behind LePage.

Death

Quinn died of pneumonia at a hospice in

Scarborough, Maine Scarborough is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Maine. The town is a coastal resort area. Located about south of Portland, Maine, Portland, Scarborough is part of t ...

, in October 2012. His wife Melba had died earlier in the month. He was 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Rodney S. 1923 births 2012 deaths Politicians from Gorham, Maine California State University, Sacramento alumni Stanford University alumni Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Secretaries of State of Maine Maine local politicians United States Air Force officers United States Air Force airmen United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Schoolteachers from Maine Deaths from pneumonia in Maine