By Michael Shepherd - June 9, 2022
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Good morning from Augusta. There are five days until Maine's June 14 primaries. It is the last day to request a no-excuse absentee ballot.

What we're watching today

Maine's vulnerable congressman is voting against his party on guns and charting a careful path on the issue. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District was one of two Democrats to vote against a sweeping gun control package on Wednesday. He is also set to vote against a national red flag law on Thursday, breaking with his party again as it advances bills that have no chance in the Senate given the 60-vote filibuster.

Golden's lengthy Wednesday night statement on the issue came after his office ignored questions about negotiations over guns last week. It had input from the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, which told us this week that it had been talking with Golden and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, about negotiations that Collins is participating in on the Senate side.

Before he was elected to Congress in 2018, he voted against some gun-rights priorities in the Legislature. Former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, the incumbent then and one of two Republicans running for the seat this year, swept the endorsements of gun-rights groups that year. Golden refused then to fill out a candidate survey from the sportsman's alliance, which campaigned hard against him after the slight.

They have repaired relations and he is firmly aligned with the group now. In a nod to the politics of a slightly liberal but nonetheless gun-friendly state, he and Gov. Janet Mills, the latter of whom is facing with Gov. Paul LePage this year, have worked with the group on safe-storage measures and other policies with consensus support. It has made Golden's votes this week no surprise. After coming to Congress in 2019, he also opposed a big gun control measure.

That round of votes led to attacks from groups pushing those laws nationally. Progressives in Maine have other reasons to be upset with Golden, who also took a big vote against his party on their massive 2021 stimulus bill. But he has maintained a firm lead on Poliquin in early public polling, looking like one of relatively few vulnerable Democrats nationally positioned to withstand a poor national environment and keep his seat in November.

His statement was a good window into his thinking, featuring both the sportsman's alliance and the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, the state's most prominent gun-control advocacy group, saying Congress should focus on measures that will pass the Senate. Golden outlines his opposition to almost every item in two Democratic bills. One part that he does support is codifying a ban on bump stocks, which President Donald Trump banned by rule in 2018. Poliquin supported further regulation then as well.

"I regret that the House did not follow the Senate’s lead and engage in a substantive, bipartisan process that could positively contribute to a final agreement," Golden said.

Those words underscore the hope that other members of Congress are putting in the Senate talks. Some members of the group have said the contours of a deal could be decided this week, with Politico reporting that items under consideration now include addressing gun purchases by people younger than 21 by either expanding background checks to cover juvenile records or with a waiting period. That is the place to watch for movement this week.

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What we're reading

— Maine cities and towns are seeing disposal costs rise sharply with a new law banning wastewater sludge from being spread on fields. Costs for getting rid of sludge linked to forever chemical contamination will rise 433 percent in Sanford alone and put more pressure on a state-owned landfill in Old Town.

— The results of the Maine moose permit lottery will be announced on Sunday, but the odds are long. One 77-year-old guide who has lived here all his life and guided successful hunts for others said he has never been drawn.

— Tension between the U.S. and Chinese governments has led to a slowdown in a school exchange program in Millinocket that once aimed to bring 200 students per year to Stearns High School. Only three Chinese students are here this year, leading town officials to reconsider funding for the program.

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Campaign news and notes

— A Monday contribution to Golden caught our eye -- $1,000 on June 6 from Kevin Kelley of Ogunquit, a former spokesperson for Sen. Susan Collins who worked on her 2020 campaign and is now with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. Golden is a former Collins aide, so he has some intersections with the Republican senator's inner circle, but it is another sign of the Democrat's crossover appeal with polls showing Republicans as a part of his coalition.

— Democrats continue to dominate absentee ballots ahead of Tuesday's special Maine Senate election in Hancock County. As of Wednesday afternoon, 1,118 Democratic voters in Senate District 7 returned their ballots compared to 225 Republicans. That lead looks set to only grow, with another 558 Democratic ballots and 107 Republican ballots issued but not returned. They must be returned by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

— A national trade group called the Consumer Technology Association has spent more than $27,000 on political ads on Maine TV stations in the past week, according to FCC filings. The ads target several bipartisan bills that aim to crack down on anti-competitive practices in the technology sector, saying they would "break American technology." The Verge has a good breakdown of the dispute. Apple and Google are members of the group, which looks to be leaning on congressional delegations in certain states without calling out members by name.

BDN writer Jessica Piper wrote this item.

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Photo of the day

Former Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., second from right, jokes during a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, to dedicate a room in her name. Another room was dedicated to the late Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith making both the first ones to be named after women senators on Capitol Hill. Joining Mikulski, from left, are Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland.(AP photo by Susan Walsh)

📷 Lead photo: Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District, speaks at Acadia National Park in Winter Harbor on June 18, 2021. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

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