After taking a brief hiatus from sending our Legislative Update, we thought it was time to check in. Here are some recent highlights from the world of Maine politics and policy:
General Election coming up on November 8
Maine will hold its 2022 General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Mainers will be voting for our Governor, our two Representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives, and all 186 members of the State Legislature. County and municipal candidates will also be on ballots across the state. Ranked choice voting will be used for the Congressional races, but is not used for the Governor or State legislative races. This is due to the fact that Maine’s Constitution requires the winners of those offices in a general election to be decided by a plurality. While there have not been many publicly-available polls on the key races in Maine, a new poll released this week by Pan Atlantic Research has incumbents Governor Mills, Congresswoman Pingree, and Congressman Golden all leading in their races. More information about Maine’s upcoming election can be found here.
Spending by Outside Sources Surges in the Weeks Lading up to Maine’s Election
In the past week, outside groups have spent more than $3 million on political advertising to influence Maine elections. Outside groups, which operate independently from candidates, have now spent nearly $14 million on Maine’s gubernatorial and legislative elections since Labor Day, outpacing 2018 spending. The gubernatorial election has seen $10.7 million in outside spending from September through October 15, with nearly all that money is going into negative television ads. In addition, outside groups continue to target swing legislative districts in the Maine Legislature.
Maine Lawmakers Vote to Sue State Agency to Gain Access to Child Death Records
The Maine Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee voted 8-1 this week to sue the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to gain access to files on child deaths before the criminal cases are resolved in court. The Committee decided to take this step after DHHS failed to comply with a subpoena regarding the records. The Maine Attorney General said that providing the case files to legislators would violate confidentiality laws, particularly while there are criminal cases pending. Sen. Nate Libby (D-Lewiston) was the only member to vote against the motion. Libby, the committee’s co-chair, said it would be more efficient for lawmakers to clarify state law, “making it crystal clear” that GOC members may have access to confidential, investigatory information, rather than pursuing the issue in Maine’s backlogged court system. As the case progresses, both sides will be represented by different lawyers from the Maine Office of Attorney General who will maintain a “wall” between them to ensure breach of attorney-client privilege.
