National Democratic group has sights set on Maine House District 24 special election
Snow blankets the Maine State House in Augusta. (AnnMarie Hilton/Maine Morning Star)
A national political action group is funneling donations to the Democratic candidate in a special election for the Maine Legislature.
Former Bangor mayor and legislator Sean Faircloth is running against Republican Carolyn Fish, who serves on the Bangor City Council, in the Feb. 25 election for Maine House of Representatives District 24. The seat was vacated by Joe Perry after he was elected state treasurer.
The race has attracted the attention of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a national organization focused on electing Democrats to state legislatures. The group announced Thursday that Faircloth is among their 'spotlight candidates,' who they support by directing fundraising through their national network. Faircloth is running as a clean elections candidate, which means he can only accept limited private contributions and then is eligible for public funds.
Democrats currently hold a slim majority in the Maine House and Senate. Of the 151 House seats, Democrats hold 75 to Republicans' 73, with one independent and one unenrolled member.
In a statement, the DLCC said, 'winning this special election would help cement Democrats' agenda to support Maine's communities, from making Maine more affordable for working families to ensuring access to comprehensive health care and quality public schools.'
Last election, the group featured two Maine legislative candidates — former state representatives Raegan LaRochelle and Bettyann Sheats — both of whom lost their respective races for the Maine Senate.
Across the country, there have already been five special elections this year. In Iowa last week, Democrat Mike Zimmer flipped a Senate district after winning 52% of the vote, which local Democrats took as a sign of discontent with Republican leadership.
'As the Trump administration wreaks havoc in Washington, the upcoming special election in Maine is the latest opportunity for Democrats to mobilize and win in the states,' said DLCC president Heather Williams in a statement Thursday. 'State legislatures are on the frontlines in these uncertain times and Democratic leadership will continue to play a pivotal role in defending our future.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ali Velshi: Protests demonstrate why, despite Trump's actions, America is still a democracy
MSNBC's Ali Velshi details how Donald Trump's attempts to squash protest and dissent by deploying the military to Los Angeles – along with things like the handcuffing of a U.S. senator - are mobilizing protests against his agenda. M. Gessen joins to discuss the importance of not normalizing Trump's unlawful actions in order to keep America a democracy.
an hour ago
Judge blocks plan to allow immigration agents in New York City jail
NEW YORK -- A judge blocked New York City's mayor from letting federal immigration authorities reopen an office at the city's main jail, in part because of concerns the mayor invited them back in as part of a deal with the Trump administration to end his corruption case. New York Judge Mary Rosado's decision Friday is a setback for Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who issued an executive order permitting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to maintain office space at the Rikers Island jail complex. City lawmakers filed a lawsuit in April accusing Adams of entering into a 'corrupt quid pro quo bargain' with the Trump administration in exchange for the U.S. Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him. Rosado temporarily blocked the executive order in April. In granting a preliminary injunction, she said city council members have 'shown a likelihood of success in demonstrating, at minimum, the appearance of a quid pro quo whereby Mayor Adams publicly agreed to bring Immigration and Customs Enforcement ('ICE') back to Rikers Island in exchange for dismissal of his criminal charges.' Rosado cited a number of factors, including U.S. border czar Tom Homan's televised comments in February that if Adams did not come through, "I'll be in his office, up his butt saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?' ' Adams has repeatedly denied making a deal with the administration over the criminal case. He has said he deputized his first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, to handle decision-making on the return of ICE to Rikers Island to make sure there was no appearance of any conflict of interest. Rosado said that Mastro reports to Adams and 'cannot be considered impartial and free from Mayor Adams' conflicts.' Mastro said in a prepared statement Friday the administration was confident they will prevail in the case. "Let's be crystal clear: This executive order is about the criminal prosecution of violent transnational gangs committing crimes in our city. Our administration has never, and will never, do anything to jeopardize the safety of law-abiding immigrants, and this executive order ensures their safety as well," Mastro said. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is running in the Democratic primary for mayor, called the decision a victory for public safety. 'New Yorkers are counting on our city to protect their civil rights, and yet, Mayor Adams has attempted to betray this obligation by handing power over our city to Trump's ICE because he is compromised," she said in a prepared statement.
2 hours ago
US Senate seeks to add expanded compensation for nuclear radiation victims to tax bill
WASHINGTON -- A program to compensate people exposed to radiation from past nuclear weapons testing and manufacturing could be restarted and expanded under a provision added by U.S. senators to the major tax and budget policy bill. The language added Thursday to the Senate version of the massive tax bill would overhaul the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which was originally enacted in 1990 and expired about a year ago. The law compensated people in about a dozen western states who developed serious illnesses from nuclear testing and manufacturing stemming from World War II-era efforts to develop the atomic bomb. The new Senate provision would expand the coverage to states including Missouri and Tennessee, among other places. It would also cover a wider range of illnesses. The program's limited scope in the West has led Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to push for its expansion to include uranium sites in St. Louis and victims in other states. His advocacy led the Senate to twice pass a major overhaul of the program, but it stalled in the U.S. House amid concerns about its cost. Without an agreement over the program's scope in Congress, the program lapsed. Hawley said the new language compensates many more people, but at a far lower cost than previous legislation. 'These folks deserve to be recognized for the sacrifices they made and compensated when the government has poisoned them without telling them, without helping them, without making it right," Hawley said Friday. 'This is a chance, finally, to make it right.' Still, the new provision's pathway remains uncertain when the House considers the Senate's changes. While there is broad Senate support for the payments, it is unclear how the addition of Hawley's legislation will be received by cost-conscious Republicans as they barrel toward a self-imposed July 4 deadline for the overall tax bill. House leaders are waiting to see what comes out of the Senate before deciding whether they might make further changes or simply try to pass the Senate bill and send it to President Donald Trump's desk. St. Louis played a key role processing uranium as the United States developed a nuclear weapons program that was vital for winning World War II. But that effort exposed workers and nearby residents to radiation, with lingering issues remaining to this day. An elementary school was closed down a few years ago because of radioactive material found on site. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers remains years away from finishing environmental cleanup work. An investigation by The Associated Press, The Missouri Independent and MuckRock found the federal government and companies responsible for nuclear bomb production and atomic waste storage sites in the St. Louis area in the mid-20th century were aware of health risks, spills, improperly stored contaminants and other problems but often ignored them. Nuclear waste contaminated Coldwater Creek, and those who live nearby worry their cancers and other severe illnesses are connected. It's difficult to definitively link specific illnesses with the waste, but advocates for an expanded compensation program said there's evidence it made people sick years later. After the report by the AP and others, Hawley said sick St. Louis residents deserved help, too. He was joined by Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, which brought attention to local nuclear contamination. She has called St. Louis a 'national sacrifice zone.' 'Many of us have had extreme amounts of devastation in the form of illnesses in our families,' Chapman said Friday. The provision added Thursday would also expand coverage areas in several states for those exposed to radioactive contamination that blew downwind from government sites. In New Mexico, for example, advocates have sought to expand the program for people near the spot where the first Manhattan Project-era bomb was tested. These residents didn't know the blast was why ash had fallen. It poised water, crops and livestock. Attention for these 'downwinders' rose following the release of the film Oppenheimer. 'Our federal government has a moral responsibility to support Americans that helped defend our country — and it has a moral responsibility to include all people who were exposed. That begins with reauthorizing RECA and amending it to include those who have been left out for far too long,' said Sen. Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico. Prior to the addition of the radiation compensation measure, Hawley had so far withheld support for the overall tax package, questioning cuts to Medicaid programs and the potential effects on rural hospitals and low income residents. He said he still wants to see improvements in the package, but added that help for radiation victims was essential. 'It would be very hard for me to vote for a bill that doesn't include (the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act). This is extremely, extremely important to me," Hawley said. ___
