MAINE, USA — Gov. Janet Mills formally announced her re-election bid this past week, not with a rally for supporters but a video attached to a fundraising pitch.
Joe Bruno doesn't think that's a good way to get one's base fired up. "Someone like me would question, why aren't you out there letting people ask you questions about why you're running for re-election?"
But Ethan Strimling says the video was a good start because it laid out Mills' accomplishments and some priorities for a second term. But he acknowledged, "There may have been a few too many issues. You're really gonna have to focus," for the expected race against former Gov. Paul LePage.
Bruce Poliquin filed signatures to run for his old seat representing Maine's second congressional district. Speaking with reporters, he tied incumbent Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, to the Biden agenda, blaming them for inflation and other problems.
Poliquin has a challenger in the Republican primary in Liz Caruso of Caratunk, a newcomer to electoral politics. Bruno thinks Poliquin might do well to focus on his campaign and ignore a little-known and underfunded candidate.
Bruno said, "It's gonna be kind of like, 'I need to just flick off this bug that's on me.'"
Democrat Strimling said he's happy to see Caruso challenge Poliquin but believes there's little chance she can defeat him in a primary. But Strimling added it would be a mistake for Poliquin not to meet his opponent in a debate or two because "You kind of have to do that just to show the colors. It's also good practice. A lot of people think primaries are not good for candidates, but I really think they sharpen your skills a little bit. You have to scrap a little bit."
Lawmakers are pushing for some statewide measures to help promote affordable housing. That includes allowing for denser development, state assistance to cities and towns to craft zoning laws, and allowing property owners to build new units.
The sponsor, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, said it's an acknowledgment the search for affordable housing isn't just a problem for Portland, Lewiston, or Bangor.
But Bruno, who serves as a selectman in Raymond, said, "Leave us alone. We know how to zone our area. This should not be a state-level decision. If you want affordable housing, there are ways to make housing affordable, but you don't have to change all the zoning laws to do it."
Strimling responded, "I think Joe sort of proves the point. We want to do it our way. Don't come in, and tell us how to do it. What ends up happening is that nobody creates the affordable housing that you need all across the state."
The analysts also discussed big TV advertising spending plans for the gubernatorial election. A bill that would address racial profiling by Maine police officers, Republican Sen. Susan Collins' response to her meeting with Supreme Court nominee Katanji Brown Jackson, Mills' nomination of Judge Rick Lawrence, who would become the first Black justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and why such nominations at the state level do not spark the battles that we see all the time on the federal level.
Political Brew airs Sundays on NEWS CENTER Maine's Weekend Morning Report.