Maine's Political Pulse
Maine's Political Pulse taps into the expertise of our political reporters Steve Mistler and Kevin Miller.
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The $50,000 donation from The Concord Fund, formerly known as the Judicial Crisis Network, appears to be the first publicly disclosed contribution to a Maine PAC from the group, which is associated with a network of nonprofits connected to Leonard Leo, the chairman of the Federalist Society.
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The 2023 legislative session here in Maine finally wrapped up this week, more than a month later than originally planned.
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Democrats controlling the Maine Legislature are securing key policy victories during the halting and chaotic close to the legislative session. However, they’ve also left questions about intraparty comity and whether they’ve sown the seeds for a minority Republican comeback in next year’s election.
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The Maine Legislature is headed into what is supposed to be its final few days of the 2023 session. But lawmakers still have a long list of major issues that they've yet to resolve.
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Democratic Gov. Janet Mills will likely be forced to choose between allowing a paid family leave bill to become law or risk a statewide referendum on the issue next year, financed by progressive megadonors.
More from the podcast archives
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Next Tuesday, voters in Maine and more than a dozen other states will cast ballots during the single-largest primary day of the 2024 elections.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. Absent some ground-shaking legal or political developments, the nation appears headed for a Biden-Trump rematch this November.But electors are still at stake in Maine. And for the first time this year, thanks to Maine’s switch to a “semi-open” primary, independent voters can join the proverbial party without literally having to join a party.
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Bowing to pressure from former President Donald Trump, a majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate this week helped torpedo the bipartisan immigration bill that would have restricted and overhauled the asylum process while giving the president clear authority to close the border.The failure to advance the bill after four months of negotiations ensures that immigration will remain a key campaign issue in the 2024 presidential and congressional election with possible implications for down ballot contests in state legislatures.Maine's Political Pulse was written this week by State House correspondent Kevin Miller and produced by digital news reporter Esta Pratt-Kielley. The theme music was performed and recorded by Rob Holt.
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Gov. Janet Mills reset the political debate over guns in Maine on Tuesday by unveiling a suite of policy proposals that she says were shaped or inspired by conversations since October’s mass shooting in Lewiston.