Previous Offices Held
Maine Senate President, 2018-2024; Senate Democratic Leader, 2016-2018; Senate Majority Leader, 2014; Assistant Senate Majority Leader, 2013; Maine state senator, 2008-2012; Maine state representative, 2002-2008. Ran in 2026 in the Democratic Gubernatorial primary (lost). Ran in 2014 Democratic primary for U.S. House District 2 (lost).
Top Three Priorities
Make healthcare and prescription drugs more affordable by passing Medicare for All; stand up to Donald Trump and his billionaire funders who are driving up costs for working Maine people; and fight for seniors and middle-class families by protecting Social Security and making taxes more fair.
Why are you running?
Working people are getting crushed while billionaires and corporations buy power in Washington. I’ve spent my life fighting that same rigged system — from the logging woods to the Maine Senate. I’m running to carry forward Maine’s working class movement, defeat Susan Collins and give people a senator who will fight like hell for them—not the wealthy and well-connected.
If elected, how would you work with the Trump administration to deliver results for Maine? How would you push back?
Working people of all backgrounds are feeling squeezed by the state of the economy, and they want somebody who will fight for them. I’ll show up every day and put Maine first — not the billionaires and corporations Collins has spent 30 years serving. It’s simple: I’ll work with anyone to deliver for Maine and take on anyone who gets in the way.
Due in large part to partisan gridlock, Congress has become historically unproductive. Given the lack of laws being passed, how would you deliver results for your constituents?
As Maine Senate President, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to save rural veterans’ homes, lower prescription drug costs, pass universal school meals and protect union jobs. I know how to bring people together and deliver — and unlike Susan Collins, I won’t sell Mainers out along the way.
Many experts agree that over the past few decades, Congress has steadily lost power to the executive branch. Is this an acceptable trend? If not, what would you do to reverse it?
Congress is supposed to be a check on the president, not a rubber stamp. But Susan Collins has voted with Trump 96% of the time. She has repeatedly failed to hold this administration accountable and instead helped to advance Trump’s policies that gut healthcare and Trump’s nominees who have ripped away reproductive rights. I’ll fight to restore Congressional oversight and make sure no president can put themselves above the law.