(Use the slider bars to scroll up, down and left to right. Hovering over the green bars will show the amount spent by a particular political action committee. The spending is divided between two major categories, support and oppose.) Here we go. Again. A week ago we reported that the 2014 election is on pace […]
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Five things Mainers may not know about Bill Clinton
President Bill Clinton will be in Portland Tuesday night to deliver a speech at a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud. It’s a safe bet that most Mainers know the man. But do you really know him? Here’s five things that might put his visit in context: 1. He makes a lot of money […]
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In letter to Maine lobbyists, lawmakers, Aroostook Watchmen defy ‘slave systems’
An Aroostook County man associated with a conspiracy group that last year met eight times with Gov. Paul LePage appears to have sent a letter to Maine lawmakers and lobbyists declaring his independence from pretty much any contract or law he disagrees with or involving the federal government. The so-called “courtesy notice” was sent Wednesday from […]
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Republicans in key Maine legislative races buy air time
Update on 9/26: Sen. Langley says that the ad buy that posted with WABI is for his business, not his campaign and that he hasn’t made any advertisements for his candidacy as of yet. That may be true since the political file doesn’t show an amount for the order. However, the buy was posted in […]
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Union PAC that spent $22 million in 2012 forms in Maine
Workers Voice, the AFL-CIO’s super political action committee that spent over $22 million nationwide in the 2012 elections, has arrived in Maine. According to filings with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, Workers Voice registered as a PAC July 8. The arrival of Workers Voice is potentially significant to the gubernatorial and legislative races […]
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RIP, AID
Andrew Ian Dodge, a former tea party activist, U.S. Senate candidate and one of the most fascinating people in Maine politics who I have ever met, has died. He was 46. The Harpswell resident published a final post on his blog. It read, in part: “If you are reading this I will have succumbed to […]
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Viewing the LePage-Democrats nursing home dust-up through the Election lens
It’s difficult not to view the nursing home kerfuffle and its eventual solution through the lens of the gubernatorial race. The blame-and-guilt rhetoric alone was a good sign that a serious and complex issue was simplified for electoral purposes. Then there was the unlikely scenario of reaching […]
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Here it is: The UNH Survey Center/Portland Press Herald poll
Below are the updated data tables and cross tabs for the University of New Hampshire Survey Center/Portland Press Herald poll. Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have seen some of the methodology details and answers to some other questions. The full report should answer the rest. Of course, since this is a […]
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The partisanship and success of Maine legislators in two charts
A web developer at the Sunlight Foundation has pulled together an interesting interactive that measures current state lawmakers’ partisanship and their success passing legislation. Thom Neale, the developer, used two methodologies to plot the graphic, which he explains in detail in his blog post. Naturally, some will quibble with his chosen data points, particularly on lawmakers’ […]
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Politics as usual? Not really, says Pew study.
When people complain about the polarization of politics it’s not uncommon to hear someone say that American politics has always been polarized. “Hey, remember when Vice President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel?” they’ll say. Well, yes, many Americans do. It was 1804 and at the time “a man’s political opinions were inseparable […]