Regardless of political party, I believe campaigns should be run by candidates rolling up their sleeves and spending their time listening to the everyday struggles of Mainers. In our race, I’ve been trying my best to live up to that vision, speaking with folks from Presque Isle to Portland and everywhere between and beyond.

So you might imagine my dismay when I found out that my competitor, incumbent Angus King, is instead spending his time on a book tour. Sure, “A Senator’s Eye” might be a cute book showing some cool pictures of Maine, but is that really what we want our senator to prioritize?

As of today, rural Maine remains in a longer and worse economic recession than the Great Depression, Maine’s population continues to age rapidly, and our young people continue to leave the state at staggering rates. While the solutions to these problems may be partisan, the fact that they exist is not. We can’t let Sen. King’s idleness pass as acceptable.

It’s the same pattern of idleness as when Angus recently refused to take part in the first 2018 Maine U.S. Senate debate organized by high school students because of mysterious scheduling conflicts. Not to mention the fact that Sen. King’s only recent legislative achievement is declaring a National Lobster Day – again, that sounds fine, but should it really be a priority?

Sen. King’s book tour reveals a critical question we must ask ourselves: What kind of state do we want to be? Are we a do-nothing kind of state, or are we a state of action? I think we’re a state of action, and it’s time our leaders represent that.

Zak Ringelstein

Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate

Yarmouth