Advocates are making their final, well-funded pushes ahead of Election Day. In the past six days, two energy companies opposing the Central Maine Power Co. corridor have added at least $1.2 million to the referendum fight, while a CMP affiliate added another $500,000 of its own. That is on top of the $87 million already spent in the political battle over the corridor over the past two years, making it by far the most expensive referendum election in Maine history.
The new money went to more TV ads, campaign finance filings show. Although a poll released last week found the no side has a big advantage going into Tuesday’s referendum, the late money push suggests that corridor opponents have lingering uncertainties about the outcome, or at least do not want to leave anything up to chance.
The last-minute spending also highlights the high stakes of Tuesday’s election for energy companies. A win for the yes side would pose a serious challenge for CMP, while a no vote would jeopardize the profits of other energy companies, including Calpine and Vistra, the late spenders that would lose share in the regional power grid.
CMP is also attempting to highlight the jobs associated with the project as part of its final push, with a Monday rally featuring workers who are building the corridor. It is a reminder of another way in which the fight has allied usually opposing groups, as both business and labor organizations in the state support the project.
Animal welfare groups also dropped their first serious money in the Question 3 race. National groups are making a last minute-push to sink Maine’s “right to food” question with about $27,000 in radio ads in the past week. Proponents of the referendum have also spent several thousand dollars on ads of their own. The spending, reported in campaign finance filings, comes as the Question 3 campaign has been relatively quiet on the spending front.
Question 3, which would add a right to food to Maine’s constitution has created strange political alliances with animal welfare advocates opposed saying it could undermine animal cruelty laws, something proponents of the referendum contest. The issue has also split Maine farmers, with some arguing it protects their ability to continue current practices while others say it could undermine food safety laws.
The Maine politics top 3
— “CMP corridor race puts the symbolic role of the Maine woods back in the spotlight,” Caitlin Andrews, Bangor Daily News: “Maine is the most forested state in the country. While 91 percent of those trees are privately owned, many landowners grant access to the forests, making them a broad economic driver. These rural, remote corners are central to the identity of the people who live in them, are symbolic for those who live slightly farther away and a draw for many others.”
— “Early effects on Maine health workforce uneven as Janet Mills’ vaccine deadline hits,” Michael Shepherd, BDN: “Providers were treating the mandate differently on Friday and there were incomplete figures across the sector on how many workers would be lost due to the mandate. The state’s two largest hospital networks, MaineHealth and Northern Light Health, were not enforcing the new rule until Saturday, while Central Maine Healthcare was complying on Friday.”
— “Although solar panels are multiplying, Maine towns start to halt their construction,” Lia Russell, BDN: “Ellsworth is the latest municipality to temporarily ban solar panel arrays, citing concerns about overdevelopment. Dixmont voted to temporarily halt permitting for commercial installations earlier this month, after discovering that there was no policy in place for what to do when solar panel arrays reached the end of their useful lives. Augusta did so in August.”
Maine’s solar proliferation is due to a 2019 law that expanded incentives for owners to send power back to the grid. The law has roundly succeeded at leading to more solar construction, but it has been larger than many expected. A Maine Public Utilities Commission analysis last year found if all planned solar projects were built, it would cost the state’s two dominant utilities at least $160 million per year. Earlier this year, CMP initially told owners there would be large costs and delays to link the projects to the grid before reversing and drawing an investigation from the utilities commission. The Legislature aimed to curtail the flood with a bill passed this year, but it could also push electric rates up.
118,000 voters request absentee ballots
More voters requested absentee ballots compared to the last off-year election, but ultimate turnout will hinge on Election Day. Absentee voting is likely to make up a greater share of overall voting than in past years due to greater awareness about the method as officials pushed it heavily last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 81,000 voters have already returned ballots, according to data released by the Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office on Friday. The rest of the 118,000 voters who requested ballots have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return them to local clerks. Democrats account for half of ballots requested so far, while Republicans make up a quarter.
Today’s Daily Brief was written by Caitlin Andrews and Jessica Piper and edited by Michael Shepherd. If you’re reading this on the BDN’s website or were forwarded it, you can sign up to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning here.
To reach us, do not reply directly to this newsletter, but contact the political team at mshepherd@bangordailynews.com, candrews@bangordailynews.com or jpiper@bangordailynews.com.
Good morning from Augusta. There are four days until Election Day.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Somebody is not telling the truth,” said Timothy Parlatore, the attorney for Lucas Sirois of Farmington, who is accused of federal crimes around an alleged $13 million marijuana and money laundering ring that authorities say involved police, a prosecutor and a selectman, among others. Here’s your soundtrack.
What we’re watching today
The governor endorsed the corridor but criticized its main builder, indicating the main problem for fellow opponents of Question 1. Big guns voiced support of the $1 billion Central Maine Power Co. corridor on Thursday. U.S. Energy SecretaryJennifer Granholm tweeted in support of a no vote on Question 1, the referendum on Tuesday’s ballot that is aimed at killing the corridor. Gov. Janet Mills alsodevoted her weekly radio address to the same topic.
The Democratic governor’s position on the corridor is not new. It was her support of the project after inking a benefits package with Central Maine Power Co. and its affiliates that set it up for its success in the regulatory realm. She has centered her case for the project on the regional emissions reductions that will come by replacing fossil fuels with hydropower.
On Thursday, she repeated that argument at length, but the most notable part was when she addressed the service problems that plagued CMP after a 2017 windstorm and led to much of the grassroots animosity toward the utility. She said, “I’m no fan of CMP,” before concluding with how she weighs those problems in relation to the benefits of the project.
“Fundamentally, for me, it’s not about CMP. It’s about climate change,” she said. “We need clean energy. We need reliable electricity. We’ve got to turn down the furnace and we’ve got to say no to fossil fuels.”
But the utility had only a 37 percent approval rating in a poll released by Digital Research, Inc. on Thursday. In another question, 59 percent of voters said the corridor will have a positive effect on CMP’s profits, as opposed to only 20 percent saying it will be good for Maine jobs and 9 percent saying it will help CMP customers.
The survey also found 49 percent of voters plan to vote yes to oppose the corridor, while 36 percent plan to vote no and 15 percent are undecided. The problem for CMP is that Maine voters look to fundamentally disagree with Mills about whether the campaign is about it.
The Maine politics top 3
— “Maine’s least vaccinated areas are seeing an uptick in inoculations,” David Marino Jr., Bangor Daily News: “The increase is significant as Maine continues to see vaccination disparities between the state’s rural and more urban areas. Those differences are especially prominent among the state’s young residents, a more relevant factor than ever as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those ages 5 -11.”
Maine’s vaccine mandate for health care workers takes effect today. Gov. Janet Millsresisted calls from some lawmakers to provide a testing alternative for the industry ahead of an enforcement deadline that she initially pushed back by a month. Vaccinations rose sharply across the health care field as of Sept. 30, but removal of employees will come as the entire sector is facing critical worker shortages that have led to suspended care in certain parts of hospitals and nursing home closures. It’s unclear how many were barred from working due to the mandate as of midnight, but the state has said those who have been partially vaccinated by the deadline would be allowed to work with additional precautions.
— “Salem’s executed ‘Witch King of Hell’ and his accusers were all from Maine,” Troy R. Bennett, BDN: “What’s more, [the Rev. George Burroughs] was accused of committing many of his fantastical deeds in Maine. They ranged from uncanny feats of strength, to holding Satanic church services in the woods, to handing out black magic dolls with pins for poking. One person even testified Burroughs ruled hell, second in command to only Beelzebub, himself.”
How Jared Golden is handling Dems’ spending ‘deal’
Key Democrats inked a deal that addressed major concerns from a Maine holdout, but they have not agreed on how to pass it. The White House released a “framework” for a pared-down $1.75 trillion spending bill mostly targeted toward childhood and climate programs that has appeared to assuage moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have been the main focus of negotiations. But a House vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill was delayed on Thursday after progressives said the framework was not enough and the larger bill should be passed in tandem.
That will further frustrate Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, who was part of a centrist group that had a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to vote on the bipartisan bill at the end of last month, which never happened. He has not yet commented on the framework, but he called again for a vote on that measure on Thursday.
Golden called on Democrats to better target benefits in the larger package. The new version puts a 250 percent income cap on the child care assistance program (Golden suggested 200 percent). While it only extends a child tax credit for one year, it limits that to households making less than $150,000 but makes the refundable part permanent. The changes have certainly edged closer to what Golden has asked for, but passing it is about process now.
Today’s Daily Brief was written by Michael Shepherd. If you’re reading this on the BDN’s website or were forwarded it, you can sign up to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning here.
To reach us, do not reply directly to this newsletter, but contact the political team at mshepherd@bangordailynews.com, candrews@bangordailynews.com or jpiper@bangordailynews.com.
