Former Maine Gov. John “Jock” McKernan says he’s looking forward to his new job running the tax-exempt, non-profit arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a hire the chamber announced Thursday. “I’m going to be doing two things – I am going to be president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which is a […]

Shenna Bellows, currently the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, is likely to announce soon she will be running for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination and challenge Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, according to multiple Democratic sources. Bellows has been active in Maine politics for some time, lending her voice to […]

The fate of congressional approval for a Syrian military strike likely lies more in the House of Representatives than the Senate, as a strong coalition of libertarian-conservatives and anti-war liberals is emerging in the lower body. That calculus potentially makes Rep. Mike Michaud’s vote more politically consequential than any other member of Maine’s delegation, as […]

Update – This post was updated at 12:55 p.m. on 8/23/13 to include a reference and link to state Sen. Roger Katz’s op-ed which also ran in the Bangor Daily News. The fallout of whatever it was Gov. Paul LePage said or didn’t say in reference to President Barack Obama’s affection or lack thereof for […]

Here’s why Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s alleged but denied comments at a Republican fundraiser where he reportedly called President Barack Obama a racist matter: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. The well-respected senior Maine Republican senator has meticulously built a career based on bipartisanship, comity and substance. She’s up for re-election in 2014 and has no real […]

Update – This post was updated at 1:10 p.m. on 8/20/13 to include Gov. Paul LePage’s denial. By now you’ve probably read about the latest inflammatory remark by Maine Gov. Paul LePage. The Portland Press Herald reports that at a Republican fundraiser, he said that President Barack Obama “hates white people.” An independent source confirmed […]

By now we’ve all seen the poll numbers – Mike Michaud, the 2nd District Democratic congressman looking to challenged Republican Gov. Paul LePage, leads the field that also includes independent Eliot Cutler. In the three-way race, Michaud garners 40 percent of the vote, compared to LePage’s 31 percent and Cutler’s 26 percent, according to the […]

Since Friday’s announcement that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is stepping down, the favorite Washington parlor game of guessing who will replace her has begun in earnest. DHS was created in 2002 in response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 – it’s a smorgasbord of 22 disparate agencies from the Secret […]

Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins and former Sen. Olympia Snowe both make cameos in a recent New York Times Magazine profile of Washington insider Kurt Bardella, a former Snowe spokesman who made his name working for a top House Republican. The story, which pulls from reporting done by Mark Leibovich for his new book ‘This Town’ […]

Update – This post was updated at 10:22 p.m. on 7/2/13 to clarify U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s position on pending gun legislation. Money matters. That’s one of the cardinal rules in politics. But there’s some nuance that goes along with that adage. In the gubernatorial race, the total money raised for each candidate will matter […]