I won’t be 18 until just after the general election this November, but I sent in my voter pre-registration in June. I labeled myself as a Democrat not for love of the party but because Maine has closed primaries. Watching the end of the primary race for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat, I became increasingly frustrated with how big money was being used to block progressive candidates out of media coverage and general elections.

Any reasonable progressive would read my story and think of what happened to Bernie Sanders in both presidential primaries. But it took me, an eternal optimist, almost two months to make the connection. Over the past few weeks, I realized that neither of the two large political parties in this country has a vested interest in hearing from voters.

I also realized that I knew about Lisa Savage, a third-party Green Independent U.S. Senate candidate and the race’s only progressive, only because I followed the right people on Twitter – not because of news media. She’s the only candidate in the race who supports Medicare For All and the Green New Deal: two policies supported by the majority of Americans and myself, for what it’s worth.

I’m now a registered Green Independent and, thanks to Maine’s implementation of ranked-choice voting, excited to vote for independent, progressive candidates.

Emma Raven
North Yarmouth

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