The four Democrats competing in a June primary to face former Gov. Paul LePage for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District met Wednesday night in Presque Isle at a forum put on by the Wabanaki Alliance to discuss tribal sovereignty and other issues facing the state’s native population.
Hosted by the Mik’maq Nation, one of Maine’s four Wabanaki nations, the event lasted two hours and covered a broad range of topics, from water rights to gaming legislation to the teaching of native history in Maine’s schools.
The candidates — State Auditor Matt Dunlap, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former political operative Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud — agreed on nearly everything, chiefly in their wholehearted support of tribal sovereignty.
Sovereignty has dominated the political conversation around Maine’s tribes for years, with majority support for its expansion in the state legislature countered by opposition from the state’s executive leaders, including LePage and then Gov. Janet Mills.
“Only when I worked on these issues federally … did I understand how wrong Maine has been to its tribes and the need to rectify that injustice,” Wood said.
If elected, all four said they would reintroduce a 2022 bill put forth by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, to amend the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 and give the Wabanaki the same rights under federal law as the 570 federally recognized tribes.
Golden currently represents the 2nd District but abruptly announced last fall that he would not seek reelection. His bill failed in the Senate after it was blocked by Sen. Angus King, another Maine politician who has expressed skepticism at tribal rights expansions.
On gaming rights, the Democrats each said they would support legislation to make the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 apply in Maine, which would open the door for casinos on tribal land.
“You cannot put conditions on sovereignty,” Dunlap said. “You can’t say, ‘You are sovereign, except for this.’”
Last year, Baldacci opposed a bill that gave the Wabanaki control of online gambling in Maine. On Wednesday, he said the oversight of gaming should fall to the five-member Gambling Control Board.
Loud disagreed, saying that control belongs to the tribes.
“This is a sovereignty issue, which means the nations have access to oversight,” she said.
A native Oklahoman and Cherokee citizen, the 29-year-old Loud took the strongest positions on sovereignty among the candidates, including her backing of the “Land Back” movement to return native lands to tribes. She is the first indigenous woman to appear on a federal ballot in Maine, according to her campaign, and received the loudest applause from the audience of around 40 tribal members and community leaders.
“I am not naive that this title should have gone to a citizen of one of the Wabanaki nations,” Loud said. “It is shameful that the state of Maine has withheld so much opportunity to the four tribes.”
Baldacci, who has the national backing of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, frequently touted his voting record in favor of tribal rights in six years as a state representative.
Dunlap, a former Maine Secretary of State and state representative, cited his work on the Maine Wabanaki-State Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And Wood, who was chief of staff to former California Congresswoman Katie Porter, referenced the difference in the treatment of tribes between California and Maine.
Throughout the two hours, the candidates never mentioned LePage by name, but pointed criticisms in his direction over his adversarial relationship with tribes and the style of his campaign. The former two-term governor is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
“The major point of the Republican candidate in this race is to attack trans people. That is wrong,” Baldacci said. “We need to all understand that we’re all of this world, and that we all live together and share this planet together.”
Wednesday’s event was the third of three forums hosted by the Wabanaki this spring. The alliance held a forum for gubernatorial candidates on March 19 in Houlton and for U.S. Senate candidates on April 16 in Old Town.
