MAINE, USA — With 2020 now in our rearview mirror, all five of our Political Brew analysts are offering predictions for the new year in politics.
Former state senator Phil Harriman says the Maine legislature "will have to wrestle probably into the summer months to get the state budget balanced. The key is, are they going to try to raise taxes?... Mainers do not want a tax increase."
RELATED: 130th Legislature gets underway
Democratic activist and 2020 candidate for U.S. Senate Betsy Sweet thinks a shrinking Democratic majority in the U.S. House will give more clout to progressives in the caucus.
Sweet says "They are going to have the votes to demand they be paid attention to."
WLOB Radio host Ray Richardson says nationally, there will be a "grand bargain" on a much-needed infrastructure bill, something he says was a failure of the Trump administration.
"Roads, bridges, airports, electrical grid, they're all in a shambles, we all know it."
RELATED: Maine Broadband Coalition rolls out speed test and map to get a clearer picture of digital divide
And our analysts all agree more broadband access has to be part of an infrastructure package.
Richardson also believes former Gov. Paul LePage will make news in 2021. LePage has indicated he wants to run for governor again.
"If he is running," Richardson says, "I think we'll get a chance to see what kind of real political power he has, because he will shape the legislative races as well as the governor's race."
Attorney and former WGAN Morning Show co-host Ken Altshuler believes 2021 will not be a good year for President Trump.
Altshuler says Trump "is going to be in serious legal trouble in New York, he'll be prosecuted by the attorney general of New York."
He adds, "I hope he ends up in jail."
Ray Richardson calls that "a fantasy, not a prediction."
And former Mayor of Portland Ethan Strimling predicts that either Rep. Jared Golden, Rep. Chellie Pingree, or Gov. Janet Mills will announce they will not seek re-election in 2022. But he's not saying which one he believes will step aside, or why.