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
Platner’s Sex Scandal Rocks Maine Senate Campaign
Democrat Graham Platner’s Maine Senate campaign has hit a major obstacle with a sexting scandal, threatening Democrats’ efforts to regain control of the chamber. On Saturday, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Platner’s wife had previously flagged as a potential liability to campaign staff that she had learned her husband… -
news
House Democrat Opposes Party’s Maine Senate Candidate
A House Democrat called his party’s presumptive Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner’s personal history “disqualifying” on Monday, highlighting the difficulties Democrats may face in a race that could determine the balance of power in Washington. “I think it would be a mistake for the Democratic Party to think that Graham Platner’s brand of the Democratic… -
opinion
The Maine Election Scam: Noncitizens, Radical Elites, and the Death of Democracy
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of a segment from today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Jack Fowler: So, let’s start off with corruption in Maine. And here’s this—Steve Robinson posted this on X the other… -
opinion
Nazi Tattoo? Hamas Defender? No Problem, Says Chuck Schumer
Maine Gov. Janet Mills has suspended her Senate campaign after failing to raise enough money to compete with socialist Graham Platner, who will now almost certainly face the perpetual centrist Republican Susan Collins in the general. Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Kirsten Gillibrand immediately backed Platner, proving that there’s virtually nothing a… -
news
Mills Drops Out of Maine Senate Race as Dems’ Left Wing Ascends
In a victory for the Democratic Party’s left flank, Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills has dropped out of the state’s Senate race, effectively ceding the party’s nomination to Graham Platner to take on Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The 78-year-old governor’s departure, which she says is due to lack of campaign funds, comes after months of… -
news
Maine Mamdani? Hard-Left Senate Candidate Surges in New Poll
Graham Platner, a hard-left Democrat who has accused Israel of “genocide” and called for “Medicare for All,” leads every candidate in a new poll for Maine’s 2026 Senate race. Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking reelection and has two major challengers in the Democrat Senate primary: Platner and Gov. Janet Mills. In new polling from… -
news
As ICE Begins Crackdown in Maine, Where Might the Next Target Be?
The Department of Homeland Security announced “Operation Catch of the Day” on Wednesday, with federal immigration agents arriving in Maine to find and arrest criminal illegal aliens. The agency noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault. “We have launched… -
news
Maine Poised to Become First State to Withdraw From Popular Vote Compact
Just last year, Maine—one of only two states that apportions its Electoral College votes—opted to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. But the New England state is now poised to exit the compact, which would kick in only if enough states voted to reach the magic 270 electoral votes required to elect a president. While… -
opinion
Supreme Court Allows a Maine Legislator to Legislate
Most injunction stories seem to favor the Left—but here’s one they may not like as much. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to grant an injunction requiring the clerk of the Maine House of Representatives to count votes cast by state Rep. Laurel Libby, who had been effectively suspended for her views on gender… -
opinion
Maine Gov. Janet Mills Doesn’t Know It Yet, But She’s an ‘Insurrectionist’
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. I want to wade into a very controversial topic. I want to be very careful. It’s… -
news
DOJ Announces Lawsuit Against Maine for Failing to Protect Women’s Sports
The Department of Justice launched a civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education for failing to protect women in women’s sports, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday. “The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports,” Bondi said. “This is about sports. This is also about these young… -
opinion
Maine Insists on Standoff With Trump Over Men in Women’s Sports. Who’s Winning This One?
Maine is putting it all on the line in the name of “transgender rights.” The state has gone so far as to risk federal funding for education and to strip some Maine residents of representation in the state capital. The ongoing dispute between the state and the federal government over Title IX violations is set… -
news
Federal Government Finds Maine Defying Federal Law for Still Allowing Males in Female Sports
Maine is violating federal law as it continues to allow males to compete in girls sports in defiance of the president’s executive order barring such competition. That’s according to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey have both made… -
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…