Statewide and town by town election returns for Maine
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Maine Morning Star - Federal officials on Monday announced $10 billion in awards across all 50 states in the second year of the Rural Health Transformation Fund, grants created by Congress to bolster rural health in response to concerns about Medicaid cuts.
Texas received the largest grant for the 2027 fiscal year — almost $282 million — followed by Alaska, Montana, California and Oklahoma. Maine was awarded more than $190 million, roughly the same amount it received in the first year of the program.
The five-year fund is providing $50 billion in grants meant to address rural healthcare access and health improvement, with $10 billion available each year until 2030.
Maine Morning Star - Democratic wins across the country open a path to get rid of the Electoral College by way of a compact Maine signed onto two years ago.
Currently, votes in a presidential election don’t go to candidates but to a state’s electors. Each state gets a set number of electors equivalent to the size of its congressional delegation. Every state has two U.S. senators but the number of U.S. House of Representatives members vary, based on population size. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes, a simple majority, to win the presidency.
In 2024, the Maine Legislature adopted something called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which Democratic Gov. Janet Mills allowed to become law without her signature. States that are part of the compact pledge their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate with the most overall votes across the country. However, it would only take effect once states with a total of 270 Electoral College votes have joined.
Including Maine, 18 states and the District of Columbia have ratified the agreement, giving the compact a total of 222 electoral votes.
But Democrats took control of several more state governments during the midterm elections, opening up the possibility of securing the 48 more needed to reach the threshold.
WMTW - Should the Amtrak train station in Portland be moved? That's the $48 million question.The Portland City Council held a workshop Monday evening regarding the proposed relocation of the train station.
….The Northern New England
Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) was awarded $48 million in federal funding to
relocate the train station along St. John Street, near Northern Light Mercy
Hospital.
NNEPRA said the current train
station is inefficient, costly and creates delays. The Rail Authority added
that if Portland's train station is relocated, trains would no longer have to
backtrack to the main line, which will save 15 minutes on every trip.
…. City officials will have to
agree with NNEPRA's preferred location, as the Rail Authority said there will
not be another project if the current proposal does not go forward. NNEPRA said
the $48 million in federal funding it received will not be able to be used for
an alternative project or location.
Press Herald - A state senator from Cape Elizabeth and a lawyer from Yarmouth are competing to win enough support from Maine lawmakers to become Maine’s next attorney general.
Sen. Anne Carney, a Democrat who has served in the Senate
since 2020, and Tim Shannon, a lawyer who previously served on the Yarmouth
Town Council, are hoping to succeed Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat who
is termed out this year after first winning the state’s top legal job in 2018.
…Carney wrote in a statement she is “talking with
legislators one by one and working hard to earn each of their votes.”
“This is a moment when Maine needs an attorney general ready
to defend our constitutional rights and our state from day one,” Carney wrote
in a Friday email. “Every legislator represents an important part of Maine, and
I’m building a coalition that reflects the statewide nature of this job and the
urgency we all feel.”
Meanwhile, Shannon, 54, said he would focus on pushing back against Trump if elected. “The Trump administration is a threat to our country, our state and our democracy, and it’s had a negative effect right here in Maine,” Shannon said in a Monday phone interview, adding he has received “lots of support” from the Democratic lawmakers he has spoken with so far.
UPCOMING
NOV 10
Special Town Council Meeting → 30 Main Street,5:30 pm
Listening Session #2: Meetinghouse Arts & First Parish Church → Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main St, Freeport 6:00 pm
