After the Democratic-led Maine House of Representatives voted along party lines last Tuesday to censure Rep. Laurel Libby, she stood with her head held high below the speaker’s rostrum.
The Auburn Republican refused to apologize for social media posts picturing and identifying a transgender girl who won an indoor track and field title last month. House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, invoked a rule barring her from voting and speaking on the House floor.
Libby spoke with reporters in the hallway. Then she shot a 12-minute video, saying Democrats “silenced me for speaking up for Maine girls.” It has been viewed 4.4 million times on Facebook. Her video of the exchange with Fecteau got well more than 1 million views on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. Inundated with criticism, Fecteau deleted his account.
That was light work compared with what Libby did the week before. Her viral post on the student sparked a conservative media firestorm that reached President Donald Trump, who threatened Maine’s federal funding and sparred verbally with Gov. Janet Mills before his administration began investigating the state for allowing transgender girls to compete in girls sports.
Libby is a standout fundraiser and organizer who has long been somewhat of a pariah in Augusta, even among many Republicans who don’t like her hardball tactics. But the censure led them to stand up for Libby — if not with her. She is now probably Maine’s best-known lawmaker, even though she is beginning to treat the State House as a bit of an afterthought.
“Attention is the currency of the 21st century, especially in the age of social media,” Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, a progressive who has worked with Libby on bills around civil liberties. “Unfortunately, I think for some, the need to garner attention has sort of clouded their judgment in a lot of instances, and I think this is one of those instances.”
Libby, a Bangor-born former nurse, made her foray into politics when the Democratic-led Legislature was debating a strict school vaccine law. She told lawmakers in 2019 that her family would leave if it passed. It passed and stood up after a people’s veto effort. The Libbys stayed.
She gained prominence in 2021 when she joined six other lawmakers in a protest of pandemic-era State House mask rules. She later encouraged health care workers to quit their jobs over Mills’ vaccine requirement. At a rally, she told the crowd: “This is war!”
The next year, she became a force in politics when the Dinner Table political committee that she runs with Alex Titcomb, her campaign manager, eclipsed the House Republican campaign arm in fundraising, raising money predominantly from small donors to train and aid candidates.
It also warred with establishment Republicans. In a voicemail to supporters, it called the official committee’s haul “pathetic” and drew a strong response from the party leader. Libby then lost her bid to lead the caucus to House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, criticizing him after he blessed a heating aid package from Mills.
Her standing only grew. Two years ago, she got hundreds to pack hearings against a controversial Democratic abortion bill. The Dinner Table is leading a voter ID referendum set for November, although the group may have overstepped by including limits on absentee drop boxes targeting Portland and Orono, two of the most liberal towns in Maine.
Libby is now seen as a leading candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination seat in 2026. Responding to written questions for this story, she sidestepped an inquiry about her plans for higher office, but vowed to “continue to advocate for a more free and prosperous Maine.”
Whether she could win is another issue. The Democratic-leaning state has seen some of the nation’s highest vaccination rates and backs abortion rights. On the other hand, voter ID polls well, and national surveys show huge support for barring transgender girls from girls sports.
Republican skepticism of Libby begins to set in when discussing the broader electorate. She held her seat by just 154 votes in November after running unopposed in 2022. Many of her colleagues think that she tends to push issues a step too far, risking progress on things — including the sports issue of the moment — that could get bipartisan support.
“I think she would be more effective if she wasn’t so abrasive,” Rep. Dick Campbell, R-Orrington, said.
He and all other Republicans voted to defend her from the censure. That included Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland, who attended a Bangor Daily News event in Augusta with her in January, blasted her actions as “cruel, callous and reprehensible” for naming and picturing the transgender student, but said punishing a member for posts set a bad precedent.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” Libby said Tuesday after being asked why she identified the student.
Democrats noted that the athlete’s school increased security due to the attention. Fecteau and others stressed that the censure was about Libby identifying a child without consent, demurring when asked if the action gave her a bigger platform.
“This is about the conduct of a member of this body,” he told reporters in his office after the vote. “I don’t think it has any bearing on what happens nationally.”
Libby’s voice may be louder without her vote. While she is championing bills this year including a bipartisan fight against federal REAL ID requirements, she has also missed five of this year’s nine meetings of the Labor Committee. That is the only panel she sits on.
In response to a question about her role, Libby termed the censure as a violation of her free speech and her constituents’ right to be heard. But she also said Democrats are “committed to advancing their extreme agenda” without regard for committee work or public sentiment.
Hundreds protested Maine’s policies at the State House on Saturday. They may not have been there without Libby. Her defenders in Augusta see a person who is unmatched at bringing attention to lightning-rod causes.
“If it’s important, she’s going to do everything she can to bring it to the forefront and make something happen,” Rep. Jennifer Poirier, R-Skowhegan, said.
