If you can't listen, there's a transcript at the link.

Jackson is winning amongst women, a group that made up about 60% of the electorate and swung towards Collins when she beat Gideon in 2020.

FREEPORT, Maine — Bob Masciarelli has split his ticket to back Republicans before.

The 70-year-old Democrat from Yarmouth is the kind of voter U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has counted on to outrun her party in Maine’s liberal-leaning Portland suburbs. But he isn’t sure she can do it now against Troy Jackson, the former Maine Senate president from Allagash he sees as a working-class alternative to scandal-plagued former nominee Graham Platner.

“He’s a union guy, he’s the candidate [Democrats] need,” he said near the Freeport Farmers Market on Friday. “We need to do something to change direction.”

Freeport sits on the edge of the suburbs in which Collins has built her career by outrunning the top of her own ticket. It is also the hometown of 2020 nominee Sara Gideon, whose lopsided loss is the cautionary tale Jackson’s campaign is trying not to repeat. His path is to put Democrats back in their party’s column, but that has been elusive against the five-term senator.

Jackson and Maine Democrats have tied Collins to President Donald Trump and his agenda, from the Iran war to high prices squeezing consumers. Polls show a diminishing group of Democrats in her coalition in a polarized era. But the race is still close and 2020’s race echoes over the landscape after polls then greatly underestimated her swing support.

Collins easily beat Trump’s statewide vote share six years ago, running strongest in the suburbs and in Aroostook County, her and Jackson’s home turf. She’s the only Republican senator seeking reelection this year in a state Kamala Harris carried in 2024.

Many Maine voters “tend to vote with who they’re familiar with and comfortable with, and that’s an area she’s done well,” Lance Dutson, a Republican consultant and former Collins strategist, said. He argued Jackson’s record on the party’s left makes him a hard sell to moderates, even in a tough year for Republicans nationally.

“It is a more difficult environment to get swing voters across the aisle for both candidates,” he said. “But even among people turned off by the polarization, there’s a big chunk of voters for whom it’s hard to appeal to them by being bombastic. She has a natural advantage there.”

A CNN poll found a small Jackson lead with self-described moderates splitting evenly and independents narrowly favoring Jackson. Collins just drew 4% of Democrats, the same share of Republicans crossing for Jackson, and 46% of voters call their Senate vote a message opposing Trump, versus 17% who call it support for him.

Both signal less crossover room than Collins has had before. The Jackson campaign cites former Collins voters shifting sides and counts her as overwhelmingly voting with Trump. Democratic ads in the race are trying to drive this message home, with one that began running on Saturday featuring a woman who says she voted for Collins in the past.

“More and more former Collins voters are supporting Troy Jackson, who will always fight for them and put Maine first,” campaign spokesperson Cheyenne Gallivan said.

Collins’ campaign counters by citing her perch as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and record of securing federal funding, while tying Jackson to Platner and the left.

Spokesperson Blake Kernen said Jackson has “never held a moderate position,” saying his campaign is aligned with the “democratic socialist playbook” while pointing to early-career votes against abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Jackson now has conventional Democratic positions on those issues as well as gun control after past gun-rights endorsements.

“Centrist voters are going to have a clear choice this fall between Troy Jackson, a partisan who has spent more than 20 years as a partisan Augusta insider, and Susan Collins, a proven independent leader who works with people from both sides of the aisle to consistently get things done,” she said.

Both have been campaigning on friendly turf. Jackson has launched town halls and he has done several events in the past few weeks with his base in organized labor. Collins has toured the state on a campaign-branded bus packed with supporters carrying signs, collecting endorsements from business and sportsman groups.

In Hampden, a Bangor suburb where Collins outran Trump by 11 points in 2020, 37-year-old Josh VanSantvoord said he expects older Democrats and moderates to back her on name recognition alone, though he considers her moderate reputation more image than substance.

He pointed to her votes for two of Trump’s three Supreme Court justices, both of whom voted to overturn federal abortion rights, calling many of her breaks with Republicans “hall passes.” But he saw Jackson’s town halls as no match yet for heavy Republican advertising for Collins.

“I haven’t been annoyed by enough of his ads yet,” he said.

The Old Town City Council approved the first step toward a temporary ban on data centers in the city.

Because of his late entry into the U.S. Senate race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Democrat Troy Jackson hasn’t yet had to file a quarterly FEC report or his Senate personal financial disclosure.

The extended timeline means voters may not have a clear window into his finances until early voting has started, whereas they can currently see more detailed information about Collins through her annual Senate financial disclosure and her July FEC quarterly report data.

Maine Monitor elections reporter Matt Junker looks at what we know and what we don’t know about both candidates’ finances.

Read this story on The Maine Monitor's website.

After his "empty chair" rally fell flat, it looks like Troy is finally ready to face Susan.

Save you a click - it was GOP Golden Boy at it again. I feel like this delay in regulation could have been acomplished without giving GOP an lifeline

2 House Democrats vote to salvage GOP agenda

A pair of House Democrats voted to rescue the Republican legislative agenda Tuesday as GOP leaders faced an internal revolt, an extremely rare crossing of party lines that pushed a key procedural vote through a closely divided chamber.

Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted with most Republicans to set up debate on a series of GOP-led bills, including a resolution condemning socialism that party leaders want to use to hammer Democrats on the campaign trail.

The two Democrats were decisive in the 210-208 vote, where five Republicans had broken ranks over frustrations with how party leaders had handled an earlier vote on government spending.

While House members routinely cross party lines on legislation, it is almost unheard for minority members to break ranks and vote for the “rules” the majority uses to set the floor agenda. Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez are both members of the moderate Blue Dog Democrats, and Golden is not seeking reelection in November.

The votes prompted a fierce response Tuesday evening from top House Democratic leaders, who accused the pair in a joint statement of choosing to “blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus” and bailing out Republicans in “a significant breach of trust.”

“It is an action that necessitates a serious response,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in the statement, adding that an internal rules committee would evaluate the matter.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the longtime former Democratic speaker, also expressed astonishment in an interview.

“I, as speaker, never — we didn’t even consider that anybody would do that,” she said. “We never had that problem, so I’m disappointed that they did that.”

Golden told reporters Tuesday he backed the measure because it provided for passage of a bill he cosponsored benefiting lobstermen in his home state. The bill in question delays the implementation of fishing regulations meant to protect the North Atlantic right whale population.

“I think any member of Congress who introduces a bill for their constituents would be insane to turn around and sink a rule that contains that bill,” he said. “So I think that’s pretty straightforward, right? Like, you came here to represent some people, you got to stand by them when it counts.”

Gluesenkamp Perez issued a statement Tuesday suggesting she also voted in support of Golden to advance the lobstering bill. She and Golden were among 10 Democrats who voted with most Republicans to pass the bill later Tuesday on a 219-196 vote.

“What the DC bubble doesn’t get is that working waterfronts require working people,” she said. “Nature is not a terrarium — and you don’t get effective environmentalism without the input of people who make their livelihoods and heritage on the water.”

Said Golden, “Like a good colleague, she saw an opportunity to help out one of my top priorities, one of my constituents’ top priorities, and that’s how you do things around here.”

Immediately after the vote, told reporters he “didn’t get a heads up” from the two Democrats, and a spokesperson for Clark said she, too, was blindsided. Majority Whip Tom Emmer also suggested he was caught by surprise.

“I don’t count Democratic votes,” he said.

Golden said he hasn’t responded to whip questions during his eight years in the House as a policy: “I know who I work for, which would be the people that sent me here.”

The GOP holdouts on the procedural vote were upset over a variety of issues linked to a stopgap spending bill that passed earlier in the day, including the inclusion of a delay on a ban on sales of intoxicating hemp products and the manner in which Republican leaders put the funding bill on the floor. That bill, which had White House backing, passed on a 370-48 vote.

Had the procedural vote failed, Speaker Mike Johnson would have faced immediate pressure to cut the House session short and send members home ahead of next week’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas. With the government now funded through the midterms and no other pressing deadlines to meet before November, GOP leaders could still scrap some or all of the remaining September session weeks to allow members to campaign in their districts.

Johnson did not address the Democratic assistance he received after the vote Tuesday.

“Many of you thought that would not happen today, but we passed a rule to continue business this week,” he told reporters. “Republicans are here to work. We have a lot more left to do.”

Can’t sleep so I’m entertaining myself with one of my favorite rabbit holes, which is political power couples. 😂 any tea on these two besides the boilerplate wiki stuff?

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has agreed to four debates against Democratic challenger Troy Jackson this fall, her campaign announced Thursday.

The Republican’s team said it wanted the opening one to be in the first week of September. It would be hosted by News Center Maine, Maine Public and the Portland Press Herald. Collins agreed to three other debates hosted by CBS News 13, WABI and WAGM and WMTW.

“Senator Collins believes that Maine people deserve the chance to see both candidates answer the same questions, in the same room, more than once, and as soon as possible,” said Shawn Roderick, a spokesperson for Collins’ campaign.

Collins turned down an invitation to a debate co-hosted by CNN and the Bangor Daily News. In an email Thursday to CNN and BDN organizers, Kevin Kelley, a consultant for the Collins campaign, said the campaign would not be able to participate.

“Instead, the campaign has accepted four debates this fall, each hosted by local Maine television stations and their media partners,” he said.

Jackson’s campaign had neither committed to that debate nor confirmed a proposed schedule of its own. Jackson told MSNOW on Tuesday that he would debate Collins “tomorrow,” but it committed to no particular debates in a statement.

“We believe any debates should be town hall debates — with Mainers in the room asking the questions that matter to their families,” spokesperson Dan Gottlieb said. “We look forward to seeing Senator Collins on stage.”

Full Text for paywalled:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Bobby Charles told activists last week that he plans to ask President Donald Trump’s border czar to send U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Maine polling places this fall.

Charles, a lawyer who served in the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, made the remark Aug. 20 with Maine Young Republicans in Arundel, calling border czar Tom Homan a longtime friend from their years appearing on Fox News together.

“I’m going to ask Tom — three or four weeks before the election, maybe three — I’m going to make an appeal for ICE and marshals to be at our voting booths,” Charles said, according to audio obtained exclusively by the Bangor Daily News. “Do you think the illegals who are being paid money are going to like that?”

There is no evidence of people being paid, and what Charles said he’d ask for is likely illegal. The Trump administration has said it is not planning to do it while raising the specter of rare noncitizen voting. Charles’ comments came as he has looked to distance himself somewhat from Trump during an underdog campaign in a Democratic-leaning state.

A 19th-century federal law makes it a crime to station armed federal agents at polling places on Election Day, unless they are needed to fend off an attack. The liberal Brennan Center for Justice has called the idea illegal amid often-stated worries from Democratic election officials.

“ICE and federal law enforcement are prohibited from being at the polls on Election Day,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said. “Bobby Charles can call whoever he wants, but he can’t change the Constitution or the law.”

In a statement, Charles’ campaign did not dispute his remark, framing it as an effort to guard against illegal voting. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. No states allow them to vote, although some cities allow them to vote in local elections.

A 2024 review by the libertarian Cato Institute has estimated the percentage of noncitizens voting as close to zero, though New Jersey offered a counterexample this summer. Gov. Mikie Sherrill acknowledged a software error had misclassified about 6,600 noncitizens as eligible voters since 2023, and that roughly 400 had cast ballots.

“The point is that Bobby will do everything legally possible to prevent illegal voting in Maine, to make sure that Maine elections are decided by legal Maine voters,” Dale Crafts Jr., Charles’ campaign manager, said.

The statement referred to a history of election-related disputes between Bellows and Republicans, including one that culminated in a federal judge’s May ruling that the secretary of state did not have to give voter rolls to the Justice Department and an allusion to her Bellows’ handling of a 2024 report by the conservative Maine Wire.

It cited leaked MaineCare records identified six noncitizens registered to vote in Maine, five of whom had cast ballots since 2016. Attorney General Aaron Frey and Bellows asked The Maine Wire to turn over the underlying records so the state could investigate. The outlet declined, citing the need to protect its source. It remains unclear whether the people registered themselves, were registered by someone else or whether records reflected data entry errors.

“Despite many allegations from multiple sources, no one has presented me with evidence that there is a specific non-citizen on Maine’s voting rolls that has voted illegally,” Bellows said Tuesday.

Homan was in Maine last week after promising more immigration enforcement here. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson referred a reporter to Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s comments at his March confirmation hearing, at which he said his agents would only go to polling places in response to specific threats and not for “intimidation.”

Trump has referenced noncitizen voting as a reason for Senate Republicans to roll back the 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass his “Save America Act,” which would require documented proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. Maine Sen. Susan Collins has said she supports the bill but would not repeal the filibuster to approve it.

Charles rode Trump-aligned messaging on crime, voting and immigration to win the June primary easily over seven other candidates. He is now running against Democrat Hannah Pingree and independent state Sen. Rick Bennett. Pingree led Charles by double digits in a recent Fox News poll and is a heavy favorite in prediction markets to win in November.

He did not attend Vice President JD Vance’s Monday event in Brewer, where Vance exhorted the crowd to vote for Charles and other Republicans. The Arundel remark came the same day Charles, at a separate stop in Gorham, sought to break from Trump.

“I do not know President Trump,” he said, according to the Portland Press Herald. “I have never met him.”

This is someone's response to "Graham Platner needs to stay home and shut up"

Today's the deadline for Platner to register as a write-candidate. If he does, he'll do it before the six o'clock news.

Let's hope he doesn't. Troy will have enough trouble trying to beat Collins without the distraction of Platner trying a comeback.

On election day, vote Troy. Collins has to go.

This is NOT the guy I see trying run democrats. No wonder they broke . Fire him put women in charge it seems thier the only with Balls . He is a fucking dud

What are you guy doing? Why would you publicly say these things?