| 🗞 The Daily Brief is made possible by Bangor Daily News subscribers. Support the work of our politics team and enjoy unlimited access to everything the BDN has to offer by subscribing here. |
|
| 📷 This screenshot is from a Maine Republican Party ad against Gov. Janet Mills. |
|
⛽ Republicans use false claims to pin high costs on the governor.
◉ Yesterday's Daily Brief outlined Republicans' challenge in sticking high costs to Gov. Janet Mills. Right on cue, it was the subject of a new ad from the Maine Republican Party. Two of three claims against the governor are false.
◉ It says she wants to raise the gas tax, but it only cites a 2021 report saying the state could fund electric vehicle initiatives by doing so. Mills has not supported it, although she and business groups opposed efforts this year from Republicans including former Gov. Paul LePage to cut or suspend the tax.
◉ It says fuel prices are high "thanks to Janet Mills." Prices spiked worldwide this year and went up recently after a production cut by oil exporters led by Saudi Arabia. In Republican-led New Hampshire, average No. 2 oil prices crested above $5 per gallon this week, in line with reported prices here. This is a global problem, but it is always bad to be the governor stuck with it.
😾 A congressional candidate says he should not have spread "furry" rumors.
◉ Republican Ed Thelander, the longshot opponent to Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine's 1st District, told the Portland Press Herald that it was a mistake to repeat false rumors that schools were putting litter boxes in bathrooms for "furries," or those who dress in animal costumes.
◉ We had to debunk social media posts on the topic in the spring. Thelander told the Press Herald that heard from "many people" about furries but it was a mistake to bring it up in a summer interview with a conservative website.
◉ Thelander, a retired Navy SEAL, also compared lobster rules to rape at a rally this week. He said those remarks went too far at a debate with Pingree. |
|
📱Want daily texts from me tipping you to political stories before they break?
Get Pocket Politics. It is free for 14 days and $3.99 per month if you like it. |
|
What we're reading
🏡 LePage's vague idea to consolidate schools and use leftover buildings for housing "doesn't make a lick of sense," a top developer said.
🏥 The former governor also revived a push for a new psychiatric hospital in Bangor that got stiff local opposition during his administration.
🔋 New electric vehicle charging stations are coming to northern and eastern Maine.
🌱 Fellow farmers are pitching in to pick the crops of a fifth-generation Fort Kent farmer whose arm was crushed in a harvester recently. |
|
| 💰 Want to advertise in the Daily Brief? Write our sales team. |
|
|
|
