The Hill News

Many people in Washington will miss Olympia Snowe, the Maine Republican and bipartisan bridge-builder who announced Tuesday evening that she has decided not to seek a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. But perhaps none more so than Charlie Palmer.

Though the confirmed centrist hardly fits the image of a "red-meat Republican," the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, appears to be one of her favorite venues. Records compiled by Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time show that the GOP lawmaker held 27 fundraisers there between May and December of last year. On three occasions, she headlined two events at the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in one day, most recently on December 14. It's one indication of how sudden and surprising Snowe's announcement was: She ended 2011 with more than $3 million in her campaign warchest.

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