Maine’s trans-identifying male Senate candidate Ashley Webb is running a declared write-in campaign as a Democrat, and on Thursday announced that he was further left than Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
[RELATED: Six Write-In Candidates Complicate Maine’s U.S. Senate Race, Trigger Ranked-Choice Voting…]
“I’m running because Mainers deserve a fighting chance — for affordable healthcare, real rural infrastructure investment, housing you can actually afford, and an economy that works for working people, not just the well-connected. I qualified as an official write-in candidate for U.S. Senate. That means when you vote on November 3rd, your vote for me counts — but only if you write my name correctly,” said Webb in a post last week.
“Some people tried to keep me out of this race. They don’t get to decide who you hear from — you do. I’m asking for your vote, and more than that, I’m asking you to tell your neighbors how to write my name in correctly, because a vote that isn’t filled out right doesn’t count. This race is close, and Maine matters. Let’s make sure every voice — including yours — actually gets heard,” he added.
Ashley Webb, born James Webb, began his Senate campaign in July when he joined the crowded Democratic field seeking to seize the nomination left open by accused rapist Graham Platner’s dropping out of the race.
Though that nomination eventually went to Troy Jackson, Webb pivoted to a declared write-in campaign. His declared write-in candidacy was certified by the state last week.
Since announcing his declared write-in run, he has resumed campaigning on Facebook.
On Thursday, he posted a graphic showing himself as the furthest-left candidate in a field of prominent politicians, further left even than Sen. Sanders, then claimed that the graphic proved that he was not radical, but was actually the “common sense” candidate.
“The corporate media wants to call our platform ‘radical,’ but this matrix proves it’s just common sense. I am sitting right here with Bernie Sanders because my platform is the only one in this race focused on using the power of the law to defend your wallet,” he said.
According to the “platform” page of his website, he is pushing for healthcare accountability, protections for workers, increased rural infrastructure, and an end to the war with Iran.
His Facebook page reveals more outlandish propositions, such as a vaguely laid-out plan to penalize a father who “attempts to override a woman’s reproductive choices” unless he submits himself to “federal paternal gestational technology” and assumes “100% of the physical burden” of carrying the child.
An online search for the exact phrase “federal paternal gestational technology” did not yield any exact results.
He also advocates for an end to income taxes for working class people’s bank interest and dividends, while increasing taxes for billionaires, and boldly claimed that “Physical sovereignty is free speech.”
“My message to the people who tried to run me out of this race is simple: you don’t get to decide who the voters hear from. I’m still on this ballot, and I’m still fighting for the people of Maine and the underprivileged,” says Webb on his website.
The inclusion of Webb and other Senate candidates running as declared write-ins ensures that Ranked Choice Voting will come into play in what looks to be a very close Senate race.
Even if none of the write-in candidates gets a significant number of votes, they could significantly impact the results of the election if neither Jackson nor Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) secures 50 percent of the vote.
Webb is likely the most well-known of the write-in candidates after he sparked national attention following his disastrous performance at the Democratic Senate debate during which he bragged about making music and writing books (both of which he does by generating them with AI) and cited his past electoral failures as qualifications.
He previously ran for the New Hampshire State House on two occasions, but was unsuccessful both times.
