Maine State Capitol in Augusta
The 2022 election cycle has found Republicans to be more competitive in New England than they were a few years ago. Former Providence Mayor Alan Huang (Republican), who is running to fill the vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives currently held by Rep. Jim Langevin (Democrat), said: in polls Heading to Election Day. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Republican candidate for Senator Don Bolduc received financial support from Senator Chuck Schumer in the primary. But the Real Clear Politics poll average makes Bolduc a very real chance of winning. showing He’s battling incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan (Democrat).
But in Maine last vote Janet Mills (Democrat), who was fired before the election, trails former Gov. Paul Lepage (Republican), a Republican challenger, by eight points. But even if Mills wins her re-election, it’s entirely possible that she’ll be forced to cooperate, at least in part, in the Republican-led state legislature for the first time.
Portland Press Herald report Mills’ reelection means the Democrats “have the power to enforce policies on issues such as abortion, taxes, health care, and energy.” It is true only if there is, and polls show that is not certain.
Maine Democrats and outside groups that support Democratic candidates for state legislature have spent more money than Republicans to maintain control of Congress. Of her 151 seats in the Maine House of Representatives, Democrats hold her 76 seats. With nine seats vacant and independents occupying three of her seats, Republicans will need to win her 13 seats to take control of Congress.
It also controls the Maine Senate, which has 22 Democrats and 13 Republicans. In fact, most of Maine’s state legislative spending this cycle has gone toward state senator elections. Democrats deployed resources to defend prominent members of the Senate caucus, including Senate Speaker Troy Jackson (D-Allagash). In both 2016 and his 2020 race to oust the Senate President Donald Trump won his election, data from Nov. 3 showed that more than $1 million was spent on him by both campaigns. It was done. report.
Louis Jacobson, UVA Political Center I have written On October 20, the Maine legislature said it was “one of the prime opportunities for Republicans to take over Congress.” Jacobson added, “The openness to ticket splitting in both New England in general and Maine in particular could produce an overturned Legislative House or two.”
If Republicans win control of the Maine Senate, it will be the fifth of the last seven elections in which partisan control of the Maine Senate has been reversed. i hope to get it back. But even if Republicans control just one legislative house, whether it’s the House or the Senate, it has important policy implications that will greatly influence the kinds of laws enacted in Maine over the next two years.
2022 will be the third election cycle under Maine’s controversial rank-selection voting system for federal candidates that no other state, except Alaska, uses.Last year, Governor Mills and the Democratic-led Congress voted Maine First state established in the country An Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program that charges a fee for all consumer goods sold in plastic packaging. Since that bill was enacted in Augusta, Governors Gavin Newsom (Democrat of California), Kate Brown (Democrat of Oregon) and Jared Polis (Democrat of Colorado) have signed similar bills. An Illinois legislator loved his EPR bill in Maine, Maintain EPR fee waivers For frozen wild blueberries included in Maine law.
The days when Maine’s Democrats implemented progressive policy proposals that have not yet been tested anywhere else will come to an end if Republicans control just one Legislative House. A win alone would mean that tax increases are unlikely to be on the agenda for at least the next two years. That’s because Maine Representative John Andrews has worked hard to get his fellow incumbents and candidates running for House or Senate to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Nearly 70 incumbents and challengers for seats in the Maine House of Representatives or Senate, among current and future officials, have signed the cycle pledges, as did Paul Lepage.
Rep. John Andrews of Maine (R-Paris) said: “Thankfully, his record two-thirds of Republican incumbents in the Maine House of Representatives have signed the pledge, and will adhere to it. It charts the path to Maine’s prosperity. It’s the way.”
What these Maine incumbents and challengers have promised voters is the same promise Ron DeSantis, Glenn Youngkin, Greg Abbott, and 14 other governors have made. Seventeen sitting governors have signed pledges to oppose and reject bills that would lead to net tax increases, a number he could rise to in 2023. January — including Tudor Dixon in Michigan and Karihi Lake in Arizona — promises voters the same thing.
If the Republicans regain control of the entire Maine government, it would mean it was a phenomenal midterm election for the Republican Party. But Republicans don’t need to take back all of Maine to change the direction the state is headed in terms of policy. As many have seen, Maine is at a crossroads when it comes to the direction of state government. The results of the 2022 midterm elections will determine whether the future of Maine’s policy and governance looks like New Hampshire or Vermont.
“Maine faces a pivotal election on November 8th, and every vote counts,” Rep. Andrews added.
Maine won’t become an income tax-free state like New Hampshire if the Republicans regain control of one legislative house. But it would certainly prevent Maine from continuing to compete with the likes of Oregon, California, and Vermont on implementing new progressive reforms.
