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π· Assistant House Minority Leader Rep. Joel Stetkis, R-Canaan, is pictured in the House chamber in Augusta on June 30, 2021. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett) |
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π An outgoing lawmaker is running to lead the Maine Republican Party. β After a disappointing 2022 election, state Republicans may be facing a leadership battle. Last week, outgoing Assistant Maine House Minority Leader Joel Stetkis of Canaan confirmed he was running for party chair. β The current Maine GOP chair, Saco dentist Demi Kouzounas, did not answer a text message about whether she will seek a fourth two-year term. Rep. Heidi Sampson, R-Alfred, also may be running for the position, but she did not respond to an email seeking comment. β These kinds of outcomes typically lead to turnover in state parties, but the Maine GOP has had the same executive director β Jason Savage β for nearly a decade. He got his start in politics by working for former Gov. Paul LePage and has built a solid reputation among establishment figures. The party has begun to defend itself after the election, saying the factors leading to Democratic victories in major races were out of its control. β If anything, Stetkis and Sampson would be likely to take the party in a further rightward direction. After the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, Stetkis shared a social media post suggesting liberal protesters were part of the crowd, while Sampson compared Gov. Janet Mills to a Nazi doctor last year. π¦ The lame-duck session of Congress is important for Maine's delegation. β Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is at the center of two major bills that the Democratic-led Congress is expected to pass before the House goes into Republican control: protections for same-sex marriage and an overhaul of the Electoral College count. β We are also going to see what House Democrats can push through in their last few weeks of control. Possibilities include raising the debt ceiling and passing voting-rights legislation that is doomed in the Senate. Both of Maine's Democratic representatives, Chellie Pingree of the 1st District and Jared Golden of the 2nd District, would be likely to go along on those. |
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What we're reading π« A group of Democrats is expected to take on Mills and Republicans with a new and uphill push for gun control. π Maine's 1970s subdivision law is blamed for stunting growth in Caribou. π A high-profile Maine judge cited a case backlog as one reason for retiring. π Skeptical towns are being asked to help fund the reopening of a shuttered coastal nursing home. π Robots are "handwriting" notes for Maine businesses. |
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