21 hours ago

How ranked-choice voting is changing Maine campaign strategy

Good morning from Augusta. Three Democrats are openly collaborating against Attorney General Janet Mills in the seven-way race for their party’s gubernatorial nomination and a Republican in the race wants to go it alone with the new ranked-choice voting system.

2 days ago

Maine independents strive for State House relevance

Good morning from Augusta, where a battery of independent gubernatorial and legislative candidates gathered for a training session and news conference with unenrolled incumbents on Monday. But can they actually change outcomes in the State House?

3 days ago

LePage picks mill towns, former military bases and urban pockets for tax benefits

Gov. Paul LePage has chosen to deliver federal tax benefits to investors in parts of Maine with existing or defunct manufacturing operations, closed military bases and selected urban pockets, in a move favoring areas in Penobscot County.

7 days ago

LePage asks Maine court to toss suit aimed at forcing Medicaid expansion

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services asked a Maine court this week to throw out a lawsuit seeking to force Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion.

7 days ago

What happens to state aid for Maine schools if legislators fail to get their act together

Good morning from Augusta, where the Department of Education has told public schools they will receive state subsidies this year even if the Legislature is unable to reconvene for an important vote on the school funding formula.

7 days ago

Senate approves bipartisan resolution to restore FCC net neutrality rules

The Senate approved a resolution Wednesday that aims to undo a sweeping act of deregulation undertaken last year by the Federal Communications Commission, issuing a rebuke to the Trump administration, which supported the FCC’s move.

1 week ago

What to watch for in this weekend’s Maine political party conventions

Good morning from Augusta. We’re two days away from the Maine Democratic Party’s state convention in Lewiston and it’s going to take two days to get through all of their candidates in a busy 2018 election cycle.

1 week ago

Even when the Democrats who want LePage’s job argue, they mostly agree

Good morning from Augusta where, lately, the Democratic candidates for governor are focusing on policy stances more than they are burning down each other’s campaigns.

1 week ago

High court weighs whether MaineCare must pay for abortions

Pro-choice advocates are asking the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to do what lawmakers have refused to do since 1979 — require MaineCare to pay for abortions for low-income pregnant women.

1 week ago

AG Mills’ work grew more political after she joined governor’s race. She says Trump is the reason.

On April 3, the deadline for Maine to file its Medicaid expansion plan to the federal government under a law enacted in a 2017 referendum, expansion advocates held a news conference at the State House.

1 week ago

How Shawn Moody went from independent ‘political virgin’ to LePage Republican

Eight years ago, Shawn Moody ran for the Blaine House with a campaign website that read, “I’m not a liberal. I’m not a conservative.” His new site calls him “a lifelong conservative.”

1 week ago

Protesters who staged a sit-in at Susan Collins’ office to serve 24 hours in jail

Three women who staged a sit-in inside Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ Bangor office last December will spend 24 hours in jail for disobeying repeated orders to leave the premises.

1 week ago

Trump promises sweeping drug price cuts, targets lobbyists, cheap overseas prices

Saying the drug lobby is making “an absolute fortune” on American consumers, President Donald Trump promised lower prices at the pharmacy counter soon in a speech Friday about his long-awaited plan to cut prescription drug prices.

2 weeks ago

Maine’s elections czar is still refining how ranked-choice voting will work

Good morning from Augusta, where preparations for using ranked-choice voting a month from now are coming together, according to Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office.

2 weeks ago

LePage renews feud with Janet Mills by ripping her campaign’s first TV ad

Good morning from Augusta, where sniping in the primary race for governor is in full effect.

2 weeks ago

Collins, King hold key votes on fate of Trump’s CIA nominee

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King are holding out judgment on President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency a day ahead of their scheduled grilling of the nominee.

2 weeks ago

Maine Republican who submitted bogus signatures loses bid to regain ballot status

Maine’s high court upheld a ruling on Tuesday keeping Republican Max Linn out of the U.S. Senate primary in June, ending a campaign that was derailed by fraudulent nomination signatures that the one-time candidate admitted but never explained.

2 weeks ago

Attorney: Keeping Max Linn off ballot would ‘totally destroy’ Maine nominating process

An attorney for disqualified Republican U.S. Senate candidate Max Linn on Monday asked Maine’s high court to put him back on the June primary ballot, saying not doing so could “totally destroy” the state’s nominating process.