Maine voters will elect all 151 state representatives and 35 state senators on Nov. 3. With the deadline for declared write-in candidates arriving Tuesday, the field of people asking to represent Maine families in Augusta is nearly complete.
Summer is beginning to slip away in Maine.
The sun is setting a little earlier. School supplies have returned to store shelves. Before long, buses will be back on the roads, tourists will begin heading home, and campaign signs will increasingly compete with fall foliage along Maine’s highways and back roads.
Election season is coming.
But before the television advertisements, mailers, debates and political noise reach full volume, there is a simple question worth asking:
Do you know who is running to represent you and your family in Augusta?
There’s an old saying that all politics is local.
In Maine, that isn’t just a political cliché. It may be one of the most important things voters remember before walking into the voting booth on Nov. 3.
Presidential politics commands attention. Maine’s races for governor, U.S. Senate and Congress will generate headlines, television appearances and millions of dollars in campaign spending.
But farther down the ballot are the candidates who will vote on the laws that can reach directly into Maine homes, schools, businesses and family budgets.
They are running for the Maine Legislature.
And in many cases, voters may not even know their names.
All 186 Legislative Seats Are on the Ballot
Every seat in the Maine Legislature is up for election this November.
That means 151 Maine House districts and 35 State Senate districts — 186 legislative seats in all.
These are the men and women who will travel to Augusta and decide what happens with the state budget, taxes, MaineCare, education, energy policy, housing, public safety, election laws, business regulations and scores of other issues affecting everyday life in Maine.
They will vote on how billions of taxpayer dollars are spent.
They will decide which bills become law.
And unlike politicians in Washington, these lawmakers often live only a few streets, towns or miles away from the people they represent.
You might see them at the grocery store.
You might sit beside them at a high school basketball game.
You might run into them at a town meeting, parade or local diner.
That’s what makes these races different.
All politics is local, and it doesn’t get much more local than the person casting your community’s vote in the Maine State House.
Tuesday Is an Important Deadline
The field is nearly set.
According to the Maine Secretary of State, Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m. is the deadline for someone to file as a declared write-in candidate for the Nov. 3 general election.
Maine law requires a declared write-in candidate to file with the Secretary of State no later than 5 p.m. on the 70th day before the election and meet the other qualifications for the office being sought.
Once Tuesday’s deadline passes, Maine voters should have an even clearer picture of who is, and isn’t, competing to represent them in Augusta.
And that matters because not every voter will have a competitive race.
In Some Districts, There Isn’t Much of a Race
The current candidate field includes traditional Republican-versus-Democrat contests across much of Maine.
There are also independents and unenrolled candidates who could complicate races in several districts.
But there is another category worth paying attention to:
Candidates who currently have no opponent at all.
Four State Senate districts, Districts 24, 25, 27 and 28, currently have only one candidate listed.
More than two dozen House districts also currently have just one candidate.
Unless a declared write-in candidate enters one of those contests by Tuesday’s deadline, voters in those communities could arrive at the polls in November with only one listed choice for the person who will represent them in Augusta.
Think about that for a moment.
A legislator may cast hundreds of votes affecting thousands of constituents over the next two years, yet in some districts the election could effectively be decided before most voters have even started paying attention to the race.
That’s another reason to know who is on your ballot.
Forget Washington for a Minute
National politics can sometimes make state elections feel small.
They aren’t.
Consider the issues that come across the desks of Maine legislators.
Your electricity bill.
The taxes taken from your paycheck.
Funding for your child’s school.
MaineCare.
Housing.
Fraud.
Roads and bridges.
Public safety.
Rules affecting your employer or small business.
How Maine spends taxpayer money.
The state laws enforced in your community.
A member of Congress cannot cast a vote in the Maine Legislature.
Neither can the president.
Your state representative and state senator can.
And when lawmakers return to Augusta for the next Legislature, the votes they cast may have consequences that show up in a family’s monthly budget long before anything Congress does.
That is why voters should know more than the letter appearing beside a candidate’s name.
If the candidate is an incumbent, how did that person vote?
Did he or she show up?
What bills did the legislator sponsor?
What did the candidate promise during the last election, and did those promises match the votes cast in Augusta?
If the candidate is a challenger, why are they running?
What would they change?
What would they leave alone?
And perhaps most importantly: Have you ever asked them?
Your Representative Shouldn’t Be a Stranger
One advantage of living in a state the size of Maine is that politics can still be personal.
There is no reason your state representative should be a distant figure you only hear about at election time.
Legislative candidates knock on doors.
They attend fairs.
They march in parades.
They hold campaign events and town halls.
They appear at city council and select board meetings.
And they want your vote.
So, ask them questions.
Ask about your property taxes.
Ask about electricity rates.
Ask about your child’s school.
Ask what they would cut from the state budget, or what they believe deserves more funding.
Ask how they would vote on an issue you care about.
And if they already serve in Augusta, ask them to explain the votes they have already cast.
You don’t need a political science degree.
You don’t need to belong to a political party.
You don’t even need to agree with the candidate.
You just need to know who is asking for the authority to represent you.
Find Your District Before Election Day
If you don’t know your House or Senate district, Maine provides voter information resources that can help residents determine their districts and election information.
Maine Voter Information and Election Resources
Take five minutes.
Find your House district.
Find your Senate district.
Look at the names.
Then research them.
You may discover a competitive race between two candidates offering dramatically different visions for Maine.
You may discover an independent candidate attempting to break through the two-party system.
Or you may discover that the person likely to represent your family in Augusta doesn’t have an opponent at all.
Any of those discoveries are worth making before Election Day.
Summer Ends. Elections Have Consequences.
There are still a few Maine summer weekends left.
There are beaches to visit, lakes to enjoy, fairs to attend and cookouts still to come.
Most Mainers probably aren’t thinking about the November ballot yet.
That’s understandable.
But summer always ends faster than we expect.
Soon the political ads will be everywhere. Mailboxes will fill with campaign literature. Roadside signs will multiply. Candidates for statewide and federal office will dominate the news.
Then Nov. 3 will arrive.
When it does, don’t just recognize the names at the top of the ballot.
Look farther down.
Because the person running for state representative in your neighborhood or state senator in your community may never appear on national television.
They may never have thousands of social media followers.
They may never become a household name.
But that person could soon walk into the State House in Augusta, sit down at a desk and cast a vote on a bill affecting your taxes, your business, your community, your children and your family.
That’s why the old saying still matters.
All politics is local.
And as another Maine summer begins to wind down, now is a good time to find out exactly who wants to represent you.
Tuesday at 5 p.m. marks the deadline for declared write-in candidates.
After that, the choices will be clearer.
And then it’s up to Maine voters to start asking questions.
I’m sorry but I can’t help but think that “journalists” are much like TV sportscasters whose job is to provide commentary and PROMOTE their industry. Otherwise, they won’t have a job.
As much as I like the commentary at The Maine Wire, things are so bad politically I’ve stopped pretending that it matters whom we vote for anymore. So, as with watching a sporting event, particularly golf, I just mute the voice while seeing for myself what’s going on.
Maine’s voters NEED TO vote for Republican candidates in November .
For Example : Yes…… Cameron Reny D Lincoln County , might be a wonderfully sweet and dedicated legislator , She is a good person , a hard worker , a fine neighbor ., but she is a Democrat .
She is in the party that has created the financial and moral decay situation that we are currently in .
She WILL vote WITH HER PARTY , for men in women’s sports , higher taxes , higher electricity costs , more immigrants on Mainecare , and the expansion of ranked choice voting . ( SHE introduced the bill )
Cameron Reny is a Democrat , and when there are MORE democrats than there are Republicans , THAT IS WHERE the continued destruction of our way of life here will be controlled .
Troy Jackson has said ONE thing that is TRUE .
“ Maine needs a Change “
For THAT to happen we must have Republican Control of Augusta .
Vote Wisely .
What’s missing is the influence of the party on the county and local level — what Muskie did was establish the Democratic party on the local level with things it wanted to change — not just the then-corrupt Republican good-old-boy establishment but specific objectives such as with the environment. (The rivers essentially were open sewers back then.)
The Maine GOP needs to do more than just say “Democrats suck” — it needs to have specific things it wants to do. Let me mention a few:
Establish a select oversight committee to monitor DHHS. If Congress can have a committee overseeing intelligence, Maine can have this — with the same safeguards that Congress has — and the same rights of full access.
An outside audit of MaineCare — it’ll cost, and much of the fraud is likely unrecoverable, but just stopping it would be a good first step.
Link teacher pay to educational outcome. The NEA (Never Educate Anyone) would fight this tooth and nail, but their powerbase is with the Democrats. Most Maine teachers right now simply aren’t worth $50K — and a lot of them already are getting that or more.
If we stipulate a minimum salary, let’s also stipulate a maximum salary as well.
How about some serious proposals about crime? Right now, one is statistically more likely to be shot in Lewiston than in New York City!
How about some serious proposals to reign in the use pixie dust and unicorn flatulence to generate electricity that has made electricity so very expensive.
The Democrats have an agenda — do the Republicans?