Foreward Blue - We just completed the largest poll of the entire 2026 cycle in Maine, and Democrat Graham Platner crushes Susan Collins by 61 points. Here's what you need to understand: there is no path to a Democratic Senate majority that doesn't run through Maine. Every scenario, every combination of flips and holds, comes back to this seat. Collins is beatable. We now have the numbers to prove it.
Shenna Bellows - Trump and his Administration are trampling on our rights in relentless pursuit of power and unchecked greed. While Trump and his crypto billionaire cronies are lining their pockets, Mainers are struggling to fill their gas tank or heat their homes because of an illegal war. Black and brown Mainers are carrying their passports in fear of wrongful arrest and detention. Mainers of all ages and backgrounds are surging to food pantries because they can’t afford rent and groceries.
Press Herald - A Superior Court judge has affirmed a 2025 Portland Rent Board ruling ordering landlord Geoffrey Rice to refund tenants he overcharged and to pay $170,500 in fines. Rice, who owns dozens of properties in Portland, had appealed rent board rulings regarding violations at two of his buildings. As part of the ruling, Rice was ordered to roll rents back to December 2022 rates in both buildings and reimburse tenants he overcharged.
State Auditor Matt Dunlap's fresh findings about MaineCare financial controls drew pushback from Gov. Janet Mills' administration. The audit flagged potential noncompliance with certain federal regulations under the Medicaid health care program, known in Maine as MaineCare. President Donald Trump's administration has also accused Mills and Maine of turning a blind eye to alleged Medicaid fraud.
Jonathan Bush is running for Maine governor. Bush - a cousin of former President George W. Bush - has owned a home in Cape Elizabeth since 2020. But tax records show he received resident exemptions in Massachusetts until 2023, and didn't register to vote in Maine until October 2022. State law requires governors to have lived in Maine at least five years before taking office.
Bath Iron Works, union reach tentative agreement
Number of children in Maine in state custody continues to drop
Katie Langley, Midcoast NOW - Over the weekend, I covered my second Maine State Spelling Bee at Bowdoin College. All 14 kids in the competition did an excellent job spelling some tough words and were great sports. The final prize went to Washington County eighth grader Tristan Singh, who will head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
I get told a lot that I don’t mince words. That it is “refreshing” for a politician to talk the way I do and to say what we’re all already thinking. In the Senate, I’m not going to express “concern” like Susan Collins, and I’m not going to be another mealy-mouthed corporate Democrat either.
I am running for the U.S. Senate to defeat Susan Collins here in Maine because we need to replace Collins with a Democrat who is actually ready to fight like hell to defend our country against fascism. But I’m not taking money from corporations, from AIPAC, or from special interests like Big Pharma and Big Oil.