They are wondering why a company in tiny LaVerkin would care so much about the governor's race in Maine that it would be the largest single contributor last year to Republican gubernatorial candidate Chandler Woodcock.

The company, RECAF Inc., contributed $250,000 to Woodcock's unsuccessful bid to unseat Democratic incumbent John Baldacci through a political PAC in Maine established by the national Republican Governors Association.

An investigation by the Portland Press Herald in Portland, Maine, discovered there is no presence of a RECAF Inc. at the address in LaVerkin listed in campaign finance reports. But the newspaper trail links RECAF "to a controversial network of treatment centers for troubled teenagers affiliated with Robert B. Lichfield, a fundraiser for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign," the Press Herald reported in a story published May 6.

Lichfield, associated with boarding schools that have been accused in governmental investigations and a civil lawsuit of abusing and neglecting students, has an interesting history in Utah as a political operative and campaign donor. The Salt Lake Tribune reported in September 2004 that Lichfield donated $30,000 to the gubernatorial campaign of then-House Speaker Marty Stephens, who had successfully killed a bill that would have mandated state regulation of boarding schools for troubled teens.

Ken Stettler, director of the Utah Office of Licensing, told The Tribune at the time that he was convinced the bill would have passed if Stephens and others had allowed it to come to a vote. But Stephens wasn't the only political benefactor of Lichfield's generosity. Lichfield hedged his bets when sprinkling the power of his purse among political office seekers.

In fact, Lichfield, his family and business associates contributed $140,000 to Utah gubernatorial candidates in 2004. He and his associates gave $45,000 to former congressman and 2004 gubernatorial candidate Jim Hansen. They forked out $60,000 to Jon Huntsman Jr., who won the 2004 governor's race. Lichfield interests also gave $118,000 to the unsuccessful congressional campaign of Republican candidate John Swallow, who as a state legislator twice sponsored bills allowing parents to get tax breaks for enrolling their children in a private school. The legislation would have benefited the schools with which Lichfield is associated.

When The Tribune story was being prepared, Lichfield told reporters Dan Harrie and Robert Gehrke: "We've been abundantly blessed, and when you're blessed, we feel you have a responsibility to bless others."

So why would Lichfield care about the Maine governor's race? The Press Herald reported there is no presence in Maine of any of Lichfield's operations and Maine authorities told the newspaper they do not place troubled teens in out-of-state programs.

Lichfield, however, is co-chairman of the Utah finance committee for Romney's presidential campaign and helped organize a $1,000-per-plate breakfast for the former Massachusetts governor. The Press Herald reported that Romney was chairman of the Republican Governors Association, whose Maine-based PAC received the $250,000 contribution from RECAF.

"Romney's job with the governors association included raising money on behalf of GOP gubernatorial candidates across the country," the paper said.

Now Romney is busy wooing Republicans to help him nab the GOP nomination in 2008. And having his "blessed" friend Robert Lichfield spread his "blessings" to potential party kingmakers surely can't hurt.