{"id":1295,"date":"2026-04-30T21:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/voterguide.local\/?p=1295"},"modified":"2026-07-15T18:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:23:52","slug":"david-allen-costello-uss","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/david-allen-costello-uss\/","title":{"rendered":"David Allen Costello"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About the Candidate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Born in Bangor and raised in a working-class family in Old Town. David has more than 25 years of senior-level state, local and federal government experience, both in the United States and abroad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Graduate, Old Town High School; Attended University of Maine (Orono); Graduate, George Washington University \u2013 B.A. Political Science and History; Graduate, London School of Economics and Political Science \u2013 Master of Science in Government\/Political Sociology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Previous campaigns and elected office(s) held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Elected to the Androscoggin County Charter Commission in 1990; U.S. CD 2 candidate in 2002, lost Democratic primary to Mike Michaud; 2024 U.S. Senate Democratic primary, lost to Sen. Angus King.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019m running for the U.S. Senate to defeat Sen. Collins and help in ending the Trump Administration\u2019s reckless assault on our democracy, environment and economy. I will help repair the considerable damage already done and enact reforms that protect against future assaults and ensure that all Mainers, not just the wealthy, are provided with the education, job skills, housing, healthcare and other life enriching resources to thrive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Top three priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Reversing detrimental actions undertaken by the Trump Administration like repealing tax benefits for the wealthy and healthcare cuts, and reconstituting critical government agencies, programs and regulations (e.g., USAID, EPA). Establishing universal healthcare and childcare programs. And resurrecting the Freedom to Vote Act and similar legislation to strengthen representative governance in the U.S. and protect against future efforts to undermine American democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If elected, how would you work with the Trump administration to deliver results for Maine? How would you push back?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I would focus on making the best economic and evidence-based case for fully funding the federal programs that are most important to Maine families, communities and businesses. Whether they are for existing or expanded social services, like healthcare subsidies or home heating assistance, or for further investment in critical Maine industries like forest products and shipbuilding. I would push back by rallying constituent, colleague and media support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Would you pledge to support your party\u2019s current leaders in Congress? If so, why? If not, why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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No, I would not. I believe it\u2019s time for new, younger leadership in the U.S. Senate. So I would support younger senators who are committed to reforming the way the U.S. Senate operates and how the U.S. government is structured, working to ensure that both institutions are more democratic, responsive and accountable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If you could change one thing about how Washington functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I would seek to do something that\u2019s nearly impossible but would do wonders to strengthen our democracy and government. I would make it easier to amend the U.S. Constitution. While it should never be too easy to update our nation\u2019s charter, it shouldn\u2019t be nearly impossible either, as is the case today. My suggestion: 60% approval, U.S. House and Senate, and ratification from states representing 60% or more of the U.S. population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2059,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"David","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"A","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Costello","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":0,"voter_guide_candidate_age":65,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Semi-retired","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"","voter_guide_candidate_education":"","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_state":0,"voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":0,"voter_guide_candidate_time_in_area":"Born in Bangor and raised in Old Town; Lived in Brunswick for the past 7 years","voter_guide_candidate_website":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1dCge-T84R1SCvNEaPUIeVuOj8oTGB-cd","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"3\/16\/2026","voter_guide_candidate_incumbent_years":"","voter_guide_candidate_is_clean_elections":false,"footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[361],"class_list":["post-1295","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-democratic","vg_residence_municipality-brunswick"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/1295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3235,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/1295\/revisions\/3235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}