Maine

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Maine House Reverses Itself on Popular Vote Bill

June 13, 2019 at 7:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Maine House reversed course and voted to switch to a national popular vote in presidential elections, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“The 77-69 vote in the Maine House came roughly two weeks after the national popular vote bill had failed by a 10-vote margin but after the Maine Senate had reaffirmed its support for the measure. The fate of the bill remains unclear, however, because it faces additional procedural votes in both the House and Senate.”

“The bill would add Maine to the growing list of states pledging to use the national popular vote, rather than the Electoral College system, to choose a president.”

Maine Rejects Proposal to Bypass Electoral College

May 30, 2019 at 4:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Maine House of Representatives on Thursday rejected plan to allocate the state’s four electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote, instead of the candidate who wins the Electoral College,” WMTW reports.

“It now appears Maine will not sign on to the pact of 14 other states that would allocate their electoral votes based on the candidate who wins the popular vote.”

Maine Paid for 40 Rooms at Trump Hotel

February 17, 2019 at 9:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and his staff racked up more than $20,000 in costs in 2017 and 2018 staying at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Portland Press Herald reports.

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Maine’s Primary Results May Take a Week

June 12, 2018 at 9:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bangor Daily News: “In the past, you have generally known winners in high-profile races on election night… That’s fine in races decided with a plurality of votes, but not as valuable under ranked-choice voting, in which a winner is only declared if a majority picks a candidate as their first choice. If not, the candidate with the lowest number of first-place votes is eliminated and second-place votes for that candidate are reallocated. The process is repeated until someone wins a majority.”

“With seven Democrats and four Republicans running for governor, a first-round majority is unlikely. Clerks will report first-round votes to us on election night as they have in the past, but further rounds of ranked-choice voting will be run centrally by the secretary of state’s office.”

“The secretary of state has said that this will happen during the week after the election.”

Why Is LePage Spending So Much Time In Washington?

March 1, 2017 at 12:42 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) “has been out of the state for most of the past two weeks and has spent much of that time in Washington, fueling speculation he might be in line for a position in the Trump administration,” the Portland Press Herald reports.

A LePage spokesman wouldn’t deny the rumors: “The president is pretty impressed with all the accomplishments the governor has made over the last six years that the Maine media have ignored.”

GOP Leaders Will Meet Privately with LePage

August 29, 2016 at 6:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republican leaders in Maine are trying to figure out a fitting punishment for racially charged comments and a threatening voicemail made by Gov. Paul LePage, who has repeatedly avoided punishment for impolitic remarks,” the AP reports.

“Republican Senate and House leaders are arranging a closed-door meeting with LePage before deciding the next step as November state legislative elections loom.”

Clinton Holds Edge In Maine

June 26, 2016 at 8:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

A new Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump, 42% to 35%, with 19% preferring someone else.

Also interesting: 57% of have unfavorable view of Clinton while 62% have an unfavorable view of Trump.

Said pollster Andrew Smith: “These are the two most unpopular candidates to have ever run for president, at least going back for as long as there has been polling. You never see them both under water like this.”

Sanders Wins In Maine

March 6, 2016 at 8:13 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 83 Comments

Sen. Bernie Sanders wins Maine Democratic presidential caucus, NBC News reports.

Politico: “Sanders had courted the state’s voters aggressively, while Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton had not made an appearance in the state since September.”

LePage Wants to Bring Back the Guillotine

January 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 63 Comments

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) told WVOM that drug traffickers should be publicly executed.

Said LePage: “I think the death penalty should be appropriate for people that kill Mainers.”

He added: “Actually, if you want my honest opinion, we should give them an injection of the stuff they sell. What I think we ought to do is bring the guillotine back. We could have public executions.”

LePage Inaction May Have Allowed Bills to Become Law

July 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and Democratic leaders clashed “about whether 19 bills became law after LePage failed to veto them or if the governor can still send the measures back to the Legislature,” the Portland Press Herald reports.

“In the latest twist of a historically bizarre legislative session, the LePage administration insisted Wednesday that lawmakers’ use of the word ‘adjourn’ last week rather than ‘recess’ gave the governor additional time to hold the 19 bills. Yet the nonpartisan state office responsible for publishing Maine statutes began writing the 19 bills into law on Wednesday despite the governor’s claims.”

“Republican leaders were conspicuously silent on the issue. Democrats, meanwhile, said the governor missed his veto window.”