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Former Google Executive Latest Democrat To Enter Race To Unseat Susan Collins

Courtesty LaJeunesse campaign
Ross LaJeunesse.

A former Google executive and senior adviser to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced his bid to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.Biddeford native Ross LaJeunesse, 49, is the fourth Democrat to join the contest.

LaJeunesse has not previously run for political office, but he says he's been spurred to do so because Collins has stopped listening to the struggling Mainers she claims to represent.

"The problem is that Susan Collins has forgotten about us," LaJeunesse says. "She doesn't fight for us in Washington. And that's why I'm running, because I want to be the voice in Washington for working Maine families."

LaJeunesse joins a primary field that includes Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, Augusta lobbyist Betsy Sweet and Saco lawyer Bre Kidman.

He acknowledged that Gideon has the backing of national Democrats and leads the field in fundraising. But he says the race will be won by connecting in person with Maine voters.

In his https://youtu.be/AQGffLSA51k">launch video, LaJeunesse focuses on Collins’s 2017 vote for a GOP tax law and her decision to help confirm Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Originally published Nov. 7, 2019 at 12:08 p.m. ET.

 

 

Journalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.