US Rep. Bruce Poliquin lost his bid for re-election to Congress. He was defeated by former Marine and Maine legislative leader Jared Golden in an election decided by ranked-choice voting. Poliquin has refused to concede. He’s challenging the legitimacy of ranked-choice voting, attacking the integrity of the election and has demanded a hand recount of the […]
Maine’s attorney general straddles two worlds. Elected by the Legislature, the attorney general performs executive branch duties. The attorney general is the state’s top law enforcement officer, but also acts as the lawyer for state government’s departments and agencies. It’s perhaps the second most powerful and influential elected position in the state – behind only […]
Charity is no replacement for sound policy, especially if you’re the governor of the state. In his radio address this week, Gov. Paul LePage touts the success of an annual food drive organized through the Blaine House that helps people in need around the holidays. There’s not a single word or idea in the short […]
There can be no question that Maine saw a blue wave on Election Day. Voters elected Democrat Janet Mills as governor – helping current Republican Gov. Paul LePage to pack his bags for retirement in Florida – flipped the state Senate from Republican to Democratic control and expanded the Democratic majority in the state House of […]
Perhaps more than any election year in my lifetime, the press has come under intense pressure and attack. Deemed the “enemy of the people,” the media is being forced to adapt to a political climate in which a significant portion of the people have given up on the idea of truth and facts. Instead, they […]
The knock on Janet Mills has never been that she’s soft on crime. In fact, during the Democratic primary, I would say that her law and order credentials were a sticking point for some of the more liberal members of the party. And they were considered a strength in the general election. She was a […]
With Election Day less than two weeks away, we have to talk about ranked-choice voting. When Maine voters walk into the voting booth – or fill out your absentee ballot – they will have a chance to rank the candidates running for US Senate and the US House of Representatives. We’ll be the first state […]
A bit by happenstance, I had the chance recently to spend about 15 minutes chatting with each of the four candidates for governor. I like them all and enjoyed the conversations. But that doesn’t change the fact that I think Attorney General Janet Mills is the best option. There’s the old canard that people vote […]
In the aftermath of Sen. Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court – and her truly unfortunate speech and rationale for the vote – many eyes in Maine and around the country are turning to 2020, when Collins could next appear on the ballot. Stop it. Just don’t. 2020 is a […]
In a meticulously reported and lengthy examination of President Donald Trump and his family’s financial empire, the New York Times has uncovered significant evidence of fraud and busted the mythology – pushed by Trump himself – of a self-made man. The Times describes its investigation as “unprecedented in scope and precision, offering the first comprehensive […]
