AUGUSTA — A legislative committee is considering a bill to hold presidential primaries in Maine, where party caucuses have long been the favored method for party faithful to select their White House nominees.
Senate President Kevin Raye told the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee today that his proposal, LD 1882, would encourage voter participation and make presidential preference selection parallel with direct elections for lower elective offices.
Raye is a Republican who represents Washington County, where Republicans were angered over how February’s caucuses were administered by the Maine GOP. A delay in county caucuses raised questions over whether residents’ votes would count.
A Democratic committee member, Rep. Linda Valentino of Saco, questioned the timing of Raye’s bill so late in the legislative session, given that the next presidential election cycle is four years away.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.