Letter to the editor: Don’t allow virus to disrupt democracy in Maine

Maine citizens have historically enjoyed transparency, especially when it comes to politics. What has always been a rule of thumb here is our famous town hall meetings, and deep interest in face-to-face contact with our politicians and town officials.

Now with the onslaught of coronavirus it is becoming increasingly difficult, maybe impossible, for many of us to meet and explore the issues directly with the candidates.

This problem is further amplified with the Maine Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate against a Republican incumbent. Many of the Democratic candidates in the race have raised some money and some are even Clean Election candidates. However, just one of these Democrats has access to a large war chest of funds from national organizations, giving her an unfair advantage to purchase lots of commercial airtime, and making the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Maine a very lopsided race.

Particularly in a local Maine state primary, why permit outside big money to make the choice for us? To compound matters, the remaining Democratic candidates had planned plenty of grass-roots town halls and forums, meeting Mainers and spreading their enthusiasm while sharing their ideas about the issues.

Let’s call on local media to help level the playing field in our local race now that the coronavirus is going to make it impossible for gatherings like candidate forums and town halls to take place.

Clifford Krolick

Parsonsfield

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