Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
PORTLAND, Maine — A tight presidential race and 2nd District battle have Maine Democrats feeling a type of nervous energy that U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree summed up well Monday.
“I’m nauseously optimistic,” Pingree told a crowd at a Monday evening get-out-the-vote rally in Portland’s Congress Square Park, recalling words shared by a colleague. “Panic responsibly.”
While Pingree, a Democrat in office since 2009, is expected to win her race for a ninth term in southern Maine’s liberal 1st District, the picture is much less clear for Vice President Kamala Harris in her high-stakes, toss-up election with former President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in the rural 2nd District ahead of Nov. 5.
Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ national election results partner, currently has former President Donald Trump as the slight favorite over Harris in the final week. The race between Golden and state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, is similarly close and key to deciding control of the chamber.
That is resulting in varying levels of anxiety mixed with positivity, numerous Democratic voters and elected officials said in interviews. That has not been a constant for them in Maine, as Democrats have controlled the Legislature and governor’s office since 2018.
“I don’t want to believe that it’s tied,” Hope Rovelto, 47, who lives in Augusta and owns a small business in Portland, said of the presidential race just before Monday’s rally began.
Rovelto said Trump has grown more “blatantly racist and fascist” since he first stormed to politics and won the White House in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, who was leading in the polls in advance of that race.
Pingree also nodded to Trump in her speech and his former chief of staff, John Kelly, who called Trump a fascist. The congresswoman viewed Trump’s Sunday rally in New York that became overshadowed by racist comments from speakers as a “pro-Nazi rally.” Trump has responded to similar criticism by calling it a “lovefest.”
The divisive nature of the race was on full display at the rally to a small crowd of three dozen people. Rovelto said her father disagrees with her on Trump, “and we don’t talk.”
Joyce Mills, 57, who lives in Gray and works for MaineHealth, held a “Roevember” sign while talking about the issue of abortion that Democrats have continued to highlight this year after a Trump-cemented conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in 2022 the landmark Roe v. Wade case that provided a federal right to an abortion.
“It’s scary to think that old, white men can control what happens in my doctor’s office,” Mills said.
Maine Democrats are nervous about the state House of Representatives, where Republicans are outspending them on a number of key races. Yet the legislative forecasting site CNalysis still gives them strong chances to keep both chambers. Harris is expected to carry Maine overall while Trump is favored to once again earn one elector from the 2nd District.
Several sitting members still shared tales Tuesday of meeting nervous voters on the campaign trail as the presidential election hangs over Maine’s large slate of races.
“I just feel like people are truly anxious,” Rep. Raegan LaRochelle, D-Augusta, who is running for a Maine Senate seat against Rep. Dick Bradstreet, R-Vassalboro.
The path to victory for Golden, who is seeking a fourth term, has often involved winning over a slice of Republican and unenrolled voters, many of whom live in the 2nd District’s rural pockets. John Taylor, 76, drove from his home in the Oxford County town of Hartford to Monday’s rally.
Taylor, who is retired from a 50-year career teaching U.S. history and coaching, said he does not agree with Golden on everything but pointed to Golden’s service in the Marines, saying Trump and his supporters are not committed to upholding the Constitution.
Otherwise, he said he will try to ignore the polls ahead of next week.
“You’ve got to play the game,” he said. “There are things you can’t control.”
