By itself, the decision by the incoming Republican caucus to nominate former Democratic state Rep. Terry Hayes as state treasurer might seem like a small thing. It’s a relatively minor post, after all, a legislatively elected position that serves an important function in state government, but one that the public doesn’t typically care about. But […]
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Morning Briefing 12.01.14: Election fraud? To the way back machine!
* There will be several more days of discussion over mystery ballots in the Senate District 25 contest between Democratic candidate Cathy Breen and Republican Cathy Manchester. Maine Republican Party Chairman Rick Bennett slammed Democrats for “dishonestly attacking the election process and, apparently, the Maine State Police, by falsely raising the specter of ‘fraud.’ ” Later, […]
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Morning Briefing 11.24.14: Prospects, promotions and deadlines
* On its face, last week’s announcement that Maine Republican Party spokesman David Sorensen is taking a similar post at the Department of Health and Human Services was typical Augusta insider news for the political class. However, Sorensen’s transition — can we really call it a promotion to go to DHHS? — may have a […]
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Maine Democrats set to elect leaders after Republicans make big gains
Democratic lawmakers elected to the 127th Legislature will elect caucus leaders Wednesday, an outcome that could set the tone for the upcoming session. Of particular interest is how Democrats respond to last week’s reelection of Gov. Paul LePage and a Republican wave that nearly resulted in a complete takeover of the State House. Democrats were able […]
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Outside groups running wild in Maine governor’s race
(Use the slider bars to scroll up, down and left to right. Hovering over the green bars will show the amount spent by a particular political action committee. The spending is divided between two major categories, support and oppose.) Here we go. Again. A week ago we reported that the 2014 election is on pace […]
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In letter to Maine lobbyists, lawmakers, Aroostook Watchmen defy ‘slave systems’
An Aroostook County man associated with a conspiracy group that last year met eight times with Gov. Paul LePage appears to have sent a letter to Maine lawmakers and lobbyists declaring his independence from pretty much any contract or law he disagrees with or involving the federal government. The so-called “courtesy notice” was sent Wednesday from […]
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Republicans in key Maine legislative races buy air time
Update on 9/26: Sen. Langley says that the ad buy that posted with WABI is for his business, not his campaign and that he hasn’t made any advertisements for his candidacy as of yet. That may be true since the political file doesn’t show an amount for the order. However, the buy was posted in […]
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Union PAC that spent $22 million in 2012 forms in Maine
Workers Voice, the AFL-CIO’s super political action committee that spent over $22 million nationwide in the 2012 elections, has arrived in Maine. According to filings with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, Workers Voice registered as a PAC July 8. The arrival of Workers Voice is potentially significant to the gubernatorial and legislative races […]
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Viewing the LePage-Democrats nursing home dust-up through the Election lens
It’s difficult not to view the nursing home kerfuffle and its eventual solution through the lens of the gubernatorial race. The blame-and-guilt rhetoric alone was a good sign that a serious and complex issue was simplified for electoral purposes. Then there was the unlikely scenario of reaching […]
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The partisanship and success of Maine legislators in two charts
A web developer at the Sunlight Foundation has pulled together an interesting interactive that measures current state lawmakers’ partisanship and their success passing legislation. Thom Neale, the developer, used two methodologies to plot the graphic, which he explains in detail in his blog post. Naturally, some will quibble with his chosen data points, particularly on lawmakers’ […]