Latest news with #MaineHouse
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to pull Maine out of national popular vote compact fails
People emerge from the Besse Building after casting their ballots in Albion, Maine on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Michael G. Seamans/ Maine Morning Star) After the chambers of the Maine Legislature failed to agree, an effort to remove the state from a compact that seeks to abolish the Electoral College failed on Tuesday. In 2024, the Legislature adopted something called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which Gov. Janet Mills allowed to become law without her signature. States that are part of the compact pledge their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate with the most overall votes across the country, but it would only take effect once states with a total of 270 Electoral College votes have joined. Including Maine, 17 states and the District of Columbia have ratified the agreement, giving the compact a total of 209 electoral votes. Earlier this month, the Maine House of Representatives passed legislation, LD 252, that sought to repeal the decision to enter the compact. The Senate tabled the bill until Monday, when the upper chamber failed to pass it with a 16-18 vote before ultimately rejecting it. Both the House and Senate insisted on their positions on Tuesday, effectively killing the bill. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that split their electoral votes across candidates. Other states use a winner-take-all system where the candidate with the majority of the state's popular vote gets all of the state's electoral votes. During floor speeches throughout consideration of LD 252, lawmakers disagreed on whether the current system or one in which the Electoral College is nullified would better represent Maine. In the House on Tuesday, Rep. Barbara A. Bagshaw (R-Windham) argued the current system reflects the will of all 50 states individually, whereas the National Popular Vote would dilute Mainers' votes. However, Rep. Arthur Bell (D-Yarmouth), who sponsored the legislation to enter the pact last year, argued during a floor debate last month that the Electoral College system results in candidates only paying attention to voters in swing states, which Maine is not. Mills allowed the measure to become law last year because she saw merit in both sides of this argument. 'Recognizing that this measure has been the subject of public discussion several times before in Maine, I would like this important nationwide debate to continue and so I will allow this bill to become law without my signature,' she said in the statement at the time. And both sides of the debate do not fall squarely along party lines. While LD 252 was sponsored solely by Republicans, it has been backed by some Democrats in committee and floor votes. In April, the majority of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted in favor of it, with eight legislators — Republicans, Democrats and one unenrolled — in support and five Democrats opposed. Separately, the committee voted against another proposal, LD 1356, that sought to change Maine's method of allocating electoral votes from the current district split to a winner-take-all system — but only if Nebraska also adopts winner-take-all. This bill is currently tabled in the House. In April, the Nebraska Legislature killed a bill that sought to make this switch, after Republicans failed to secure enough votes to overcome a four-hour filibuster. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hannah Pingree announces run for Maine governor
Jun. 10—Hannah Pingree is running for governor, adding her name to a list of well-known candidates battling it for the Democratic nomination in 2026. Pingree made her formal announcement Tuesday morning and is kicking off her campaign with a rally in Rockland and then hold additional events in Lewiston, Biddeford and Portland. "I am running for Governor to bring Maine people together to do the hard things that none of us can do by ourselves," Pingree said in the written announcement. "As a state, we face real challenges—but I also know we have real opportunities. I believe in Maine, and I believe in Mainers. I'm ready to travel the state to listen, to learn, and to talk about how we can build a strong future for Maine." Pingree said her campaign will focus on expanding access to affordable housing and health care, addressing the rising cost of living and building strong communities. She said she is "committed to growing the economy, creating good-paying jobs in every region and strengthening Maine's workforce for the future," as well as protecting working waterfronts, farms and forests from the impacts of climate change. Pingree, a former speaker of the Maine House, joins a slate of well-known Democrats looking to replace Gov. Janet Mills, who cannot seek reelection because of term limits. Other declared Democrats include former Senate President Troy Jackson, of Allagash, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, of Manchester, and renewable energy entrepreneur Angus King III. Pingree is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and King is the son of U.S. Sen. Angus King an independent. Pingree formerly served as the director of the Governor's Office of Policy and Innovation, where she helped coordinate cross-agency initiatives for climate change, housing, children and aging. Pingree resigned last month, fueling speculation that she would seek the Democratic nomination for the 2026 governor's race. "Gov. Mills has given me a tremendous opportunity to work on issues that are important to Maine," Pingree said at the time. "Housing, climate, economic recovery. I am leaving the administration. I am exploring how to continue to focus on the future." Prior to joining the Mills administration, the 48-year-old North Haven resident served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives, including stints as the speaker and majority leader. She also helped run a family farm and inn. Republicans also will have a number of choices in their party's June 2026 gubernatorial primary. Bobby Charles, a Leeds resident and lawyer who served under President George W. Bush, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in April. State Sen. James Libby, R-Standish, declared last month. Other candidates who have filed campaign paperwork with the state are: Republicans David Jones, of Falmouth; Steven Shepherd, of Bangor; Robert Wessels, of South Paris; and Ken Capron, of Portland; Democrat Kenneth Pinette, of South Portland; and Alexander Murchison, an unenrolled candidate from Dover-Foxcroft. Democrats have held a trifecta since Mills took office in 2019, maintaining majorities in both the House and Senate. But the party is facing historic headwinds in 2026. Since the 1950s, Mainers have not elected a candidate from the same political party as a departing governor — a trend that began after Maine had five consecutive Republican governors from 1937 through 1955. Copy the Story Link
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Fresher faces, same names: Meet New England's new crop of politicians' relatives who are looking at elected office
King's dad is Angus King Jr., the third-term US senator and former two-term governor of Maine, who remains one of the most popular politicians in the state. An entrepreneur and businessman, the younger King, 54, has not previously run for elected office or held any government position. And King may have a rival in the Democratic primary for governor who also has a parent in Congress: Hannah Pingree, the 48-year-old daughter of Representative Chellie Pingree, who has held the state's 1st Congressional District since 2008. Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the Maine House, is widely considered to be mulling a bid for governor after she recently stepped down from a post in the office of current Governor Janet Mills. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up And then there is a scion of one of Maine's — and the nation's —most Advertisement Across the border in New Hampshire, another political dynasty could be perpetuated in 2026: Stefany Shaheen, a 51-year-old former Portsmouth city councilor, is running for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District. But most voters will know her mother best: Jeanne Shaheen, who has served as US senator from New Hampshire since 2008 and, before that, was a three-term governor. Her father, Billy Shaheen, serves on the Democratic National Committee and is a former US attorney. Advertisement Children of American politicians have followed in their parents' footsteps since John Quincy Adams, the progeny of Massachusetts' first political dynasty, won the presidency 25 years after his father. But the current crop of candidates from well-known families comes at a time when many voters, Democrats in particular, are increasingly dissatisfied with their established (read: older) political class and are hungry for new faces. Whether candidates with different faces but the same names can gain traction in 2026 will test voters' long-standing fondness for political dynasties, which has been a hallmark — sometimes uncomfortably — of American politics. Former New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu knows something about running with a famous political last name: He is the son of a former governor who also served as White House chief of staff for the elder George Bush, and his brother is a former US senator. In an interview, Sununu said there are two fundamentals of running in a situation like this. 'The first key is to surprise people either in terms of your personality or approach to policy. You just have to be a little bit different so people take notice, but you don't want to shock them into disbelief,' said Sununu, who broke with his relatives by supporting abortion rights. 'The second bit of advice is to actively campaign retail style so people can meet you and not rely on just money and television ads,' he added. 'Being out there a lot and seen as earning the vote does a lot to quell the nepo baby argument that you are always going to hear.' Advertisement Dan Kildee, a former Democratic congressman from Michigan, said the environment facing candidates from political families has changed significantly since 2012, when he won the seat left by his uncle, Dale Kildee. That's 'because the sort of populist, anti-institutional sentiment is something you see in both parties now and is pretty prevalent,' Kildee said. 'My advice would be, don't ignore this factor, don't assume it's a net positive.' 'When your name represents the establishment, it does require you to take seriously the obligation to try to separate yourself and define yourself separately from conventional politics,' Kildee said. 'And that's hard.' In a statement to the Globe, King III said that asking whether having his father is helpful in his campaign is like asking Wayne Gretzky's son if it helps to have Gretzky as his dad. 'The answer is: of course,' he said. 'I was lucky to grow up having dinner every night with one of Maine's great public servants. He helped shape me into who I am today,' King III said. 'And just like my dad, I'm always looking to bring people together to solve the hardest problems.' Stefany Shaheen told the Globe she gets questions at campaign house parties about her lineage, saying she is 'incredibly proud' of her mom but emphasized she is running as her own person. She cited her years of advocacy for advancing medical research for people like her daughter, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age eight. Advertisement 'Now, I'm running to fight for all New Hampshire and fight back against what Donald Trump, Bobby Kennedy, and the Republicans are doing to crush medical research and slash Medicaid,' said Shaheen. 'But I know how hard campaigns are having watched it up close, and I know I am going to have to work twice as hard,' given the heightened expectations of her last name. A spokesperson for Senator Shaheen referred the Globe to her post on X touting her daughter's resume, which 'has shown me she has the experience, heart and determination needed to make a difference' for the state. Hannah Pingree did not respond to a request for comment. Elsewhere in the country, other political children are seeking office, including Adelita Grijalva, who is running for the Arizona congressional seat left vacant by the death of her father, Representative Raúl Grijalva. But the phenomenon appears most pronounced in New England, where the success of famous families has been a feature, not a bug of politics. Massachusetts has its Kennedys and Lodges, Rhode Island its Chaffees, New Hampshire its Greggs and Sununus; both Connecticut and Maine claim the Bushes. 'In some sense, these political families are an affront to the old Yankee ethos of individualism and getting ahead by working hard,' said Erin O'Brien, political science chair at the University of Massachusetts Boston, who has written about New England politics. 'But New England voters have not shied away from voting for these political dynasties again and again.' The appeal of legacy political families has shown signs of fading more recently, however. Former representative Joe Kennedy III saw his famed family become a foil for Senator Ed Markey, who defeated him in the Democratic primary for US Senate in 2020. Advertisement So far, there haven't been signs of similar attacks against the 2026 cohort. Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire politics professor, said a nepotism charge becomes a dynamic in races only if opponents are willing to exploit it. Otherwise, it might only be a factor in close races if voters are inclined not to like it. Martha Fuller Clark, a two-time Democratic nominee for the seat Shaheen is seeking, told the Globe there are obvious advantages. 'The Shaheen name ID among New Hampshire Democrats is nearly 100 percent,' said Clark, who is not running this time but has endorsed a Shaheen rival in the primary, Maura Sullivan. A third Democrat who just joined the primary for the Congressional seat, Carleigh Beriont, leaned into the theme by saying in an interview that one reason she is running is to ensure 'my kids, especially my daughter, to grow up believing that they deserve a seat at the table regardless of their last name or how much money they have.' In an interview with the Globe, Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate who is running for governor as a Democrat, didn't make too much of the pedigrees of his potential rivals. Asked about the appeal of King and Pingree's names in the race, he said, 'I don't really know. All I know is, I'm going to fight for people that I know across the state are frustrated by government.' More generally, Jackson said, the last 50 years have seen 'the same people sitting around the same table making the same decisions — and wondering why the same things are happening.' Advertisement One of Jackson's most high-profile supporters comes from a well-known Democratic family himself: Maine state Senator Joe Baldacci, whose brother John was a two-term governor and former congressman. 'I don't think anyone is given a pass because they have a certain last name at all,' Baldacci said. 'Maine people give you a consideration, but you've got to back it up.' He praised Hannah Pingree's own record in politics and said while he has 'deep affection' for Senator King, Baldacci wondered if his son had the relationships and experience advocating for Democratic policies to win sufficient support. A recent poll of the gubernatorial field from longtime Maine pollster Pan Atlantic Research, however, showed King III with the most support, and by far the most recognition: Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed said they were familiar with him. Nonetheless, observers in Maine and elsewhere see the dynamic around political family brands inevitably becoming part of these key races. 'His name's Angus King,' said Wes Pelletier, a Portland city councilman who has endorsed Jackson. 'There's no way that conversation isn't going to happen.' Sam Brodey can be reached at
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court restores voting privileges of censured anti-trans Maine Republican lawmaker
The U.S. Supreme Court has restored the voting privileges of Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican, who was censured and barred from voting in the state House of Representatives after she outed and deadnamed a transgender student athlete. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. Libby and six of her constituents sued Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau and others over the censure, claiming it had interfered with her work as a legislator and violated her constituents' voting rights. The high court Tuesday granted her request for a preliminary injunction that restores her vote while the lawsuit proceeds. The court's vote was 7-2, with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the minority. Lower courts had refused to intervene in the case, citing the doctrine of legislative immunity, which protects lawmakers from certain legal actions. 'Not very long ago, this Court treaded carefully with respect to exercising its equitable power to issue injunctive relief at the request of a party claiming an emergency,' Jackson wrote in her dissent. 'The opinions are legion in which individual Justices, reviewing such requests in chambers, declined to intervene — reiterating that 'such power should be used sparingly and only in the most critical and exigent circumstances.'' 'Those days are no more,' she continued. 'Today's Court barely pauses to acknowledge these important threshold limitations on the exercise of its own authority. It opts instead to dole out error correction as it sees fit, regardless of the lack of any exigency and even when the applicants' claims raise significant legal issues that warrant thorough evaluation by the lower courts that are dutifully considering them.' Libby had posted a photo of a trans female athlete on Facebook in February and deadnamed her. Libby has frequently denounced the presence of trans girls and women in female sports. 'It is fundamentally unfair to allow biological males to compete in girls' sports, yet that is what's happening in Maine,' she wrote in one Facebook post. She has also praised Donald Trump's executive order that threatens to take federal funding from any state that allows trans girls and women to compete alongside cis females in school sports. A few days after she posted the photo of the athlete, the Maine House voted 75-70 to censure Libby, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. That meant she couldn't vote or speak on the House floor unless she apologized, which she refused to do. Libby defended her post as free speech, but Democrats said it was wrong to target the student. 'There is a time and place for policy debates,' Fecteau, a gay Democrat, said at the time. 'That time and place will never be a social media post attacking a Maine student. Maine kids and all Maine people deserve better.' Fecteau said he had not asked Libby to deny her beliefs but merely wanted her to apologize to the girl. He had previously spoken to Libby and asked her to remove the post, but she refused. It has been shared widely and helped spur a confrontation between Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills. At a White House meeting in February, Trump demanded that Mills comply with his executive order, and she said she'd see him in court. She recently won a settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that restored Maine's school meal funding, which the USDA had frozen because of her support for trans youth. The Trump administration is still pursuing other legal action against Maine. Libby praised the high court's action in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maine House speaker can't stop lawmaker from voting while federal case is pending, Supreme Court says
May 20 (UPI) -- Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau can't stop Rep. Laurel Libby from participating in committee and floor votes while challenging her censure, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. Libby sought emergency relief to enable her participation in Maine House votes while her federal case is decided by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The court granted Libby's request without citing the majority's reasoning due to the request being an emergency application. "The U.S. Supreme Court just restored the voice of 9,000 Mainers!" Libby, R-Auburn, said Tuesday afternoon in a post on X. "After 2+ months of being silenced for speaking up for Mainegirls, I can once again vote on behalf of the people of House District 90," she said. "This is a win for free speech -- and the Constitution." Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and other Maine House members censured Libby for challenging a transgender student athlete's participation in girls' sports and using that person's so-called "dead name" in a social media post that she made on Feb. 17. The athlete won the state's girls' pole vault championship but competed as a boy a year earlier. The censure stops Libby from speaking on the House floor or participating in floor votes until she apologizes for the social media post. Libby challenged her censure in federal court and said it violates her constitutional rights while depriving her constituents of representation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a five-page dissenting opinion said Libby has a good chance of winning her case but the court usually refuses to intervene in such cases. "Relief of this sort 'is not a matter of right but of discretion sparingly exercised,'" Jackson said. "We have long recognized that this injunctive relief is appropriate only when 'critical and exigent circumstances' exist necessitating intervention," she continued. "Applicants have not asserted that there are any significant legislative votes scheduled in the upcoming weeks, that there are any upcoming votes in which Libby's participation would impact the outcome." Oral arguments are scheduled "in a few weeks" at the federal appellate court that is located in Boston, Jackson added. "The opinions are legion in which individual justices ... declined to intervene," Jackson said. "Those days are no more." Justice Sonia Sotomayor also dissented, while Justice Elena Kagan refused to intervene in the matter. Libby has criticized Maine's policy of allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports based on gender identity. Maine Gov. Janet Mills recently rejected a federal court ruling affirming that Title IX prevents athletes from competing in sports based on gender identity. President Donald Trump promised to hold Mills and the state accountable for Title IX violations.
