Maine Politics & News
The Daily Signal reports on Maine politics with coverage of state government, ranked-choice voting battles, and the balance between rural traditions and urban progressive policies in the Pine Tree State.
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news
Maine Rep Who Was Censured for Posting About Transgender Athlete Sues House Speaker
When a lawmaker in Maine posted a photo of a male high school athlete winning a girls pole vault state championship, her House colleagues silenced her. Now, she’s taking legal action. Less than two weeks after Maine Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, posted the photo on Facebook, the Maine House of Representatives voted 75-70 to censure… -
news
Trump Makes Good on Threats to Pull Funding From Maine Due to Trans Sports Defiance
President Donald Trump has halted funding for research and programs at the University of Maine System following the state’s governor’s defiance of his executive order slashing funding for states that allow men to compete in women’s sports. Maine Gov. Janet Mills publicly opposed the Feb. 5 executive order protecting women’s sports from transgender intrusion. Mills yelled “See you in… -
news
Maine Governor Faces Recall Effort Over Transgender Policy
THE CENTER SQUARE—Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is facing a recall effort from critics of her transgender policies, but the citizen-led campaign is unlikely to result in her being removed from office. An online recall petition calling for the removal of the second-term Democrat has gathered nearly 30,000 signatures since it was posted last week…. -
opinion
Maine Pulls a South Carolina
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. President Donald Trump had a meeting of the governors in the White House recently, this week,… -
opinion
Independent in Name Only: Maine Senator Consistently Votes Liberal Democratic Party Line
Sen. Angus King of Maine bills himself as an “independent,” but his voting record is such that if it could, the Federal Trade Commission might want to charge him with false advertising. That’s because, when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says “Jump,” King—like the Democrats he caucuses with, despite being a nominal… -
news
Parents Outraged Maine School Clinic Could Give Students Confidential ‘Reproductive Health Care’
A Maine high school may open a new health clinic that would give students confidential “reproductive health care.” At other school-based health centers, that term has been a euphemism for transgender drugs and birth-control prescriptions. Maine School Administrative District 11 voted on Dec. 5 to review the contract for a school-based health center that can… -
news
‘Totalitarian’ Bill Would Establish Maine as Sanctuary State for Abortions, Trans Surgeries
A Democrat-led bill seeks to establish a legal right to abortions, transgender surgeries, and hormonal treatments in Maine, and protect those traveling from outside of the state to get such procedures there. LD 227 would establish a legal right to “gender-affirming health care services” and “reproductive health care services” within Maine, according to a draft… -
opinion
BREAKING: Maine Bill That Protects Kidnappers Who Take ‘Transgender Kids’ for ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Fails in Committee
UPDATE Jan. 25, 2024 5:45 p.m.: A joint standing legislative committee between the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate voted that the transgender custody bill LD 1735 “ought not to pass” Thursday. According to footage of the committee posted online, the motion that the bill “ought not to pass” passed 12-0. Rep. Katrina… -
news
‘Election Interference of the Worst Kind’: Maine Secretary of State Strikes Trump From Ballot Amid Colorado Case
Two Democratic officials moved to boot former President Donald Trump off the ballot in their states Thursday, even as one of them acknowledged that voters would be able to select the 2024 Republican front-runner until further notice. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that Trump would remain on the ballot until the U.S. Supreme… -
opinion
The Left Calls for Gun Control After Maine Mass Shooting. But Recent Events Show Why We Need Right to Bear Arms.
When evil is committed in this world, the Left creates victims, rather than empowering good people to stop it. On Wednesday, a mass shooter killed more people, 18, in Lewiston, Maine, than the entire number of people slain in the state in 2021. It was a horrific act of wanton murder. Thirteen others were injured…. -
news
‘Heartbreaking’: Maine Parents Resent Daughters Losing to Trans Cross-Country Runner
Parents of high school girls in Maine having to compete against a biological male say they fear the end is near for women’s sports. “In the mind of these young ladies, it’s going to really deter them from even giving the effort, because we’re never going to be able to beat this person,” said Chris… -
news
Biden Admin Teams With Conservative Critic as Maine Defends Blocking Access to Voter Data
Maine heads to court Thursday to defend its policy of shielding voter registration records from public disclosure against unlikely allies—a conservative election integrity watchdog and the Biden administration’s Justice Department. The case could have far-reaching consequences for government transparency, press freedom, the First Amendment, and clean elections well beyond Maine, said J. Christian Adams, president… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Maine School Board Asks Church What It Believes About Marriage, Abortion, Gender Before Denying Lease
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A Maine church that outgrew its meeting space applied with the local school board to lease space at a high school for worship services, but the school board appeared to apply a religious test to the church and negotiations fell through. Now, the church is suing. "Public institutions that seek to… -
opinion
Supreme Court Tells Maine to Stop Religiously Discriminating. Maine Gets Creative, Does It Anyway.
Last term, in Carson v. Makin, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Maine could not prevent parents from using otherwise generally available state school choice funds at religious schools simply because those schools provided religious instruction. But the state is back at it again, discriminating against families and the religious schools they want to… -
news
Maine Dad, Lawmaker Defend Education Transparency Through Public Records Requests
A bill in the Maine state Legislature would protect transparency in education after a state official accused parents of “hate speech” for making government public records requests. Introduced by state Rep. John Andrews, R-Paris, the bill would codify Maine’s version of the Freedom of Information Act, the Freedom of Access Act, and affirm that the requests… -
opinion
Supreme Court Upholds School Choice, Free Exercise in Maine Case
“The state will take your money, but won’t allow you to use it as you know best,” Amy Carson said, in a stinging rebuke of her home state of Maine last year when legal scholars from the Institute for Justice and First Liberty Institute appealed her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a child’s… -
opinion
Maine and Nevada Show Why the Electoral College Helps Small States, Not Red States
Last month, both Maine and Nevada did what was in the best interests of their states: They rejected bills that would have enrolled their states in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an unwise effort to override the Electoral College. In Maine, it was killed by legislators in the state House after it passed Maine’s… -
news
Maine Will Allow Non-Doctors to Perform Abortions
Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill Monday permitting non-doctors to perform abortions in Maine. The law will allow physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to perform abortions, according to a press release from Mills’ office. “Allowing qualified and licensed medical professionals to perform abortions will ensure that Maine women, especially those in rural areas,… -
opinion
Maine Rejected Medicaid Expansion and Found Success. Now, House Health Bill Would Send Us Backward.
As conversations swirl on Capitol Hill and across the nation regarding the repeal of Obamacare and Medicaid reform, I would like to describe Maine’s success in reducing Medicaid enrollment by 24 percent in the last five years and why our experience is relevant to the ongoing debate. In our corner of the United States, we… -
opinion
Maine Required Childless Adults to Work to Get Food Stamps. Here’s What Happened.
One trillion dollars—that’s how much the government spent last year on means-tested welfare aid, providing cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income individuals. The food stamp program is the nation’s second largest welfare program. The number of food stamp recipients has risen dramatically, from 17.2 million in 2000 to 45.8…