Steve Mistler
Chief Political Correspondent and State House Bureau ChiefJournalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.
Steve has been a journalist for nearly two decades, specializing in the coverage of politics and state government. His work has been recognized by the Maine Press Association, Gerald Loeb and regional Murrow awards for investigative projects and accountability journalism. He was named the MPA’s Journalist of the Year in 2011 for his coverage of municipal and state government. He later received a Public Service in Radio from the Society of Professional Journalists and a writing award from the Public Radio News Directors for his retrospective of former Gov. Paul LePage.
He joined Maine Public in 2016 after a career in newspaper reporting. He and his family live in Maine.
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The information session was originally scheduled as a public meeting, but Democratic lawmakers instead met with the ATF official behind closed doors. Republicans protested the private briefing.
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The report acknowledged that Maine's yellow flag law can be cumbersome, but "dedication and persistence" on behalf of law enforcement and the Army could have changed the course of events last October.
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Maine lawmakers are plodding toward a mid-April adjournment with a slew of contentious issues to resolve, including gun safety and a new spending plan. Meanwhile, a divided Congress continues its obsession with the November election in its quest for historically unproductive governance.
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Historically on the losing end of the gun debate, activists who want to tighten access to firearms are hoping they can convince lawmakers to pass expanded background checks, a waiting period on sales and streamline a process to confiscate guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
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Gov. Janet Mills is calling for additional funding for the Maine State Police to beef up rural patrols, but only for counties with existing coverage agreements with the agency.
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Androscoggin Sheriff Deputy Matthew Noyes' testimony was part of a sweeping hearing during which the shooter's fellow Army reservists defended their efforts to get him help and follow up with local authorities.
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The slate of proposals include a three-day waiting period and a bump stock ban, but gun control groups are urging an assault weapons ban and limiting magazine capacity.
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The campaign for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for blocking access to voters at polling places, but a federal judge has denied its request for an injunction and that the case is unlikely to succeed on its merits.
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The court's ruling forced Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to change her decision in late December to remove the former president from the ballot because she said he violated the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution.
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By presidential primary standards, this year’s Super Tuesday contests are relatively anti-climactic because the Republican and Democratic tickets are pretty much set at this point. But electors are still at stake in Maine.