🚧 'Gutter politics'

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By Michael Shepherd - June 2, 2022
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Good morning from Augusta. There are 12 days until Maine's June 14 primaries.

What we're watching today

Allegations from Maine's top Senate Democrats against a progressive activist came without robust receipts. A sleepy set of June primaries has taken off with just under two weeks to go until Election Day. The drama may be highest in a Democratic primary for a newly drawn Orono-area Maine Senate district between brewery owner Abe Furth and Mike Tipping of the progressive Maine People's Alliance. The winner will be favored in November.
Furth was recruited by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and jumped into the race ahead of Tipping, who has long been a prominent figure in Maine politics as an activist, writer and commentator. Party campaign arms generally try to stay out of open primaries between well-known figures and Jackson generally did that until Wednesday, when he and the two other Senate Democratic leaders endorsed Furth and accused Tipping of "gutter politics."
The BDN's Jessica Piper spent yesterday chasing the substance of the allegation down and it is thinner than you would probably think. The Jackson-led statement accused Tipping of fabricating endorsements and putting signs on the lawns of people who did not want them. But Jackson, nor Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, nor Furth, nor the Senate Democrats' campaign arm pointed us to a specific endorsement at issue.
On the signs, Tipping and allies conceded that many voters may have requested one before they realized there was a primary. One Orono town councilor who supports Furth reported a sign being delivered to his property. Tipping said a tenant requested it, which the councilor denied. That, friends, is what is causing the fighting between top Maine progressives.
A former congressman finally addressed his longshot primary challenger in a missive to his supporters. Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin has mostly ignored Caratunk Selectman Liz Caruso in their Republican primary for the right to take on Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District, in November. The underdog and TV networks have asked for debates that he has declined, which led Caruso to get a half-hour Tuesday alone on Maine Public.
But his campaign is not totally ignoring her, sending a missive to supporters this week that Caruso beamed out to the Maine press on Wednesday. The Poliquin camp hit back on attacks from Caruso that have been part of past campaigns against the former congressman. She has highlighted his waterfront Georgetown home outside the district (he bought a home in Orrington that he officially lives at) and parts of his past record on gun-rights.
Poliquin's team also levied attacks against Caruso, including for her work on behalf of a Democratic-owned canvassing company that worked against the Central Maine Power Co. corridor, a project she prominently opposed. It read like an attempt to keep Poliquin supporters home in the primary.
Almost nobody in Maine politics thinks Caruso has a chance in a race against Poliquin for which she has raised little money and gained little attention for until lately. Golden has led in early polling against Poliquin despite stiff national headwinds for Democrats, gaining an outsized share of Republican support. Caruso has noted this. While she is unlikely to upset Poliquin, any large chunk of votes going her way could nick him going into November.

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What we're reading

— Landlords and tenants have tried to steal $6.4 million from Maine's federally funded rent relief program, according to the agency that runs it. It would represent 3 percent of all aid given so far and 1 percent of applications.
— Communities in Maine's Unorganized Territory grew faster than the rest of the state in the last decade, with low property taxes among the potential reasons cited by public officials.
— Most Mainers will get their $850 relief checks by the end of July, the state said on Wednesday after a brief scare about a shortage of envelopes.
— The 2nd Congressional District will have a ranked-choice ballot after independent Tiffany Bond qualified for the November ballot. She was on the ballot with Golden and Poliquin in a 2018 race that came down to the second choices of those who voted for her and another also-ran candidate.

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News and notes

— Gov. Janet Mills is in Maine's biggest city this morning to address the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce's "Eggs and Issues" breakfast at 8 a.m. She planned to discuss Maine's pandemic recovery, rising costs and affordable housing, her office said. The Democrat has two evening events in Portland as well.
— The governor was in Ogunquit on Wednesday to raise an LGBTQ pride flag at an event hosted by the local chamber of commerce. She issued a fundraising email highlighting her LGBTQ-rights record and contrasting it that of former Gov. Paul LePage, her 2022 opponent. It includes a ban on so-called conversion therapy that he vetoed and she signed after taking office in 2019.
— LePage continues to make overtures to immigrant business owners in Portland. His Facebook page advertised visits this week to businesses including Veranda Asian Market. It comes after the Maine Republican Party opened a multicultural center in June at an event where the former governor took a softer line on immigration than he demonstrated during his tenure.
— We will get an updated look at congressional campaign finances by midnight on a Federal Election Commission reporting deadline day.

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Photo of the day

Tyler Melanson makes taffy in the front window of The Goldenrod, a popular restaurant and candy shop, on Wednesday in York Beach. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

📷 Lead photo: Political signs are displayed on Main Street in Orono on Wednesday. (BDN photo by Linda Coan O'Kresik)

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