Good morning from Portland, where I spotted this flyer aiming to convert Bernie Sanders supporters to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein on my way through Monument Square to grab coffee. It was jarring after the unity-fest that was yesterday’s Democratic National Convention, which culminated with Hillary Clinton accepting the nomination and contrasting her “steady leadership” with Republican […]
Good morning from Portland. This weekend, we told you why Maine’s Bernie Sanders-heavy delegation matters at the Democratic National Convention, starting this week, in Philadelphia. Today, we’ll tell you how they’ve been on the edge of anti-establishment dissent so far. The convention, where Hillary Clinton will be nominated to run against Republican Donald Trump in November, […]
Members of the Maine contingent backing Democratic presidential underdog Bernie Sanders at the party’s national convention later this month were stung by his endorsement of presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. The endorsement had been rumored for days and foreshadowed for weeks. Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, clinched enough delegates to win the nomination in early […]
Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett ended months of speculation about who his Democratic National Convention superdelegate vote will go to when he said through a spokeswoman Thursday that he will support Hillary Clinton. Bartlett is the only one of Maine’s five superdelegates who had not previously voiced his preference. “Secretary Clinton has secured the votes for the […]
U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin avoided questions from Roll Call on Friday about whether he’ll support presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. It came after Bangor Daily News blogger Mike Tipping published a leaked audiotape of the Republican from Maine’s 2nd District telling conservatives in Portland that the divisive billionaire “will win” the presidency and turn to House Republicans to craft policy. […]
Good morning from Portland. Why am I here? Well, Augusta is empty for two reasons: Patriot’s Day (yes, that’s where Maine puts the apostrophe) and the Legislature finished its business just after 2 a.m. on Saturday. The last day’s action included a bipartisan compromise on purchase bans for alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, tattoos and other items using cash assistance, a […]
Good morning from Augusta, where Democrats rejected a last-minute budget maneuver from Gov. Paul LePage and House Republicans that had the State House halls buzzing on Thursday. The proposal wasn’t released by Republicans, but Democrats said it funded $18 million worth of bills — pay raises for law enforcement and direct care workers and jail funding — by […]
Amid all the hustle over the weekend associated with the Republican and Democratic caucuses, the only result that matters is how many delegates Maine sends to the national conventions in July. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz can expect 12 Maine delegates, followed by Donald Trump with nine and John Kasich with two. Those totals […]
Good morning from Augusta, where Tuesday began with a recognition day for Boy Scouts and ended with a Gov. Paul LePage town hall meeting in Freeport. It was reasonably hostile territory for the Republican, who gave his normal stump speech on energy, economic, welfare and drug issues. But there were a couple of highlights. At one point, […]
Good morning from Augusta, where there’s new fallout from House Speaker Mark Eves’ lawsuit against Gov. Paul LePage. As you probably know, the Democrat from North Berwick sued the governor last year over the Republican’s role in forcing Good Will-Hinckley to rescind an employment contract with Eves in 2015. LePage threatened to withhold $530,000 in state funding unless the […]
