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What we're reading
🌷 A progressive referendum drive has led to a "polarized" Portland and a big-money campaign from business interests that shows signs of life.
🏥 LePage's idea to boost the number of doctors in Maine was not his, and it is already in motion at the University of New England.
🔎 The pandemic and an economy marked by inflation have helped many workers, but those reliant on public funding may not be benefiting, according to a report from the liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy.
💻 Piscataquis County commissioners rejected a second plan to expand broadband across the region, calling it too costly.
🎤 The BDN and CBS 13 are hosting a gubernatorial debate between Mills and LePage on Monday at 7 p.m. Submit your best questions here. |
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| 📷 This combination of file photos shows former Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2017, left, and Rep. Jared Golden in 2018, right. (AP photos by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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📺 The 2nd District is absolutely saturated with ads.
◉ The race between Golden and Poliquin is expected to see more ad spending than all but two House races, according to AdImpact figures released last week.
◉ Roughly $25.3 million in ads are expected to be targeted at the district through Election Day. That figure includes reservations and money spent. It is a staggering sum that exceeds all of the spending on the 2018 race in the 2nd District, which was the most expensive campaign in Maine history at the time.
◉ Poliquin has an advantage on the air due to a rush of national Republican money being trained on House races. AdImpact expects his party to outspend Democrats by $3.5 million at the election's end.
🔢 Expect heavy turnout compared to the 2018 gubernatorial election.
◉ Maine is expected to see just over 667,000 voters in the Nov. 8 election, according to estimates released this week by Echelon Insights.
◉ That would be 60 percent turnout in a midterm election, a high figure in a state that always sees high levels of voter engagement. It would also be 37,000 more voters than Maine saw in the 2018 election won by Gov. Janet Mills, who now faces former Gov. Paul LePage and independent Sam Hunkler.
◉ The estimates show a hard statewide road for Republicans. In the 2nd District, the expected group of voters went to Trump by just over 6 percentage points in 2020. The corresponding group in the 1st District went for Biden by nearly 23 points. |
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