Tag Archives: Maine

Bloomberg reports: Democrat Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran, has defeated two-term Republican Representative Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s Second District, AP projects, as the state’s first use of ranked-choice balloting in a congressional race proved consequential. Poliquin, the incumbent, led after ballots were initially tabulated, though no candidate had an absolute majority. However, under ranked-choice voting, the lowest-choice candidates were …

But this isn’t over yet. Bangor’s CBS News affiliate reports: Judge denies Poliquin’s order for a temporary restraining order asking for the ranked-choice voting tabulation to stop. The tabulation process will continue at noon Thursday. Wednesday, a federal judge in Bangor heard from legal teams from both sides of the ballot. A lawyer representing incumbent congressman Bruce Poliquin wants the …

Roll Call reports: Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin has sued state Attorney General Matthew Dunlap seeking an injunction to stop the tabulation of ballots under the state’s ranked-choice voting system, which is being used in his race against Democrat Jared Golden in the 2nd District. Since no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the state’s ranked-choice voting system …

The Portland Press Herald reports: A new poll shows Democrat Janet Mills with an 8-point advantage over Republican Shawn Moody in Maine’s gubernatorial race. The Emerson College poll of nearly 900 registered Maine voters found that Mills, the state’s attorney general, was the top choice for 49.7 percent of respondents while 41.7 percent chose Moody, a business owner. Moody’s political …

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — one of four senators who has not yet said whether they will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court — is expected to announce her decision on the nomination at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, a Senate source told CNN. A source close to the Senate said that the …

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: Imagine being stuck in a cycle of depression or an unhealthy relationship and not being able to get help. Well, people in 13 states don’t have to imagine it. Thanks to a string of bad laws, something as simple as sitting down and talking to a counselor of your choice about …

The Portland Press-Herald reports: Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a bill Friday to prohibit state-licensed counselors and therapists from engaging in “conversion therapy” aimed at changing an underage client’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill would allow the state to deny or revoke a professional license to medical or mental health professionals who engage in conversion therapy of minors. The …

Raw Story reports: A bus driver for Concord Coach Lines was filmed falsely telling passengers lined up to board that they must be U.S. citizens to ride the bus. The ACLU of New Hampshire posted this video to Facebook of the driver in Concord, Maine, along with federal ICE agents intimidating passengers. In the video, passengers wisely refuse to answer …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is pushing Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) to run for the U.S. Senate, according to White House advisers. Trump has told advisers that he plans to call LePage, who endorsed him in February 2016, and ask him to jump in against Sen. Angus King in 2018 and offer his endorsement. King is an independent …

Talking Points Memo reports: Maine voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to become the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid by ballot initiative, approving the measure by a nearly 20-point margin. But Republican Gov. Paul LePage, a vehement opponent of Medicaid who has vetoed expansion bills five times since the Affordable Care Act became law, is threatening once again to …

The Bangor Daily News reports: A push to remove protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation from the Maine Human Rights Act has been abandoned, according to the person who started it. Michael Heath of Chelsea said Thursday that he will not submit the 61,123 signatures from registered Maine voters required to put a referendum question on the statewide ballot. …

The Bangor Daily News reports: A man protesting against LGBT rights earlier this week at the University of Maine during the school’s Coming Out Week celebrations was met with a counter-protest: an a capella song. The unidentified man, holding a sign printed with Bible verses about sexual immorality, had been standing in front of the Memorial Union on campus for …

The Bangor Daily News reports: Gray-New Gloucester’s top school official told WMTW television a high school football coach is no longer employed by the district after allegations he told players to taunt an opponent for having two mothers. Maine School Administrative District 15 Superintendent Craig King told WMTW the district “takes concerns about the safety and security of students very …

At a press conference streamed live on Facebook just now, Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced that she will not leave the Senate next year to run for governor of Maine. Collins put an end to months of speculation when she made her announcement at the Samoset Resort in Rockport Friday morning. Collins is Maine’s senior U.S. Senator, having held her …

The Hill reports: Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) on Thursday defended President Trump’s claim that “both sides” were responsible for the violence that erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend, comparing Confederate memorials to those put up to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. “I think what they are standing for …

The Portland Press-Herald reports: Gov. Paul LePage said today that he would propose increasing the age to vote or join the military to 21 to be consistent with a new law hiking the legal age to buy tobacco. Unfortunately for LePage, two things would stand in his way: the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. military. Six days after the Legislature …

The Hill reports: The governor of Maine attacked the press earlier this week and accused reporters of spreading false information that he threatened to go on vacation during a government shutdown, but a new recording of a voicemail captures him mentioning the vacation. Gov. Paul LePage (R) accused the press of writing false news stories about him going on a …

Positively Trumpian. The Associated Press reports: Gov. Paul LePage lashed out at the media for reporting he planned to leave the state during a budget impasse, and he suggested he sometimes concocts stories to mislead reporters. The Republican governor also characterized the state media as “vile,” ″inaccurate” and “useless.” “I just love to sit in my office and make up …

The Portland Press-Herald reports: Amid intense budget negotiations and a state shutdown, Governor Paul LePage has told lawmakers he’s taking a 10-day vacation. “He called the Senate president (Michael Thibodeau) and Sen. (Roger) Katz this morning to say he was leaving the state to go on vacation,” Thibodeau spokeswoman Krysta West said Monday afternoon. West said Thibodeau, R-Winterport, told her …

The New York Times reports: A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks. What ensued in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and in a 29-page …