r/Maine

"Sen. Susan Collins has not attended any Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee meetings focused on abortion or reproductive healthcare after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to committee hearing reports. During the same period, Collins has highlighted her voting record, saying in a 2025 statement that “the people of Maine deserve a Senator who shows up to represent them every day.”

Collins’ missed hearings included a July 2022 hearing titled “Reproductive Care in a Post-Roe America: Barriers, Challenges, and Threats to Women’s Health” and a June 2024 hearing examining how abortion bans created what lawmakers described as a “health care nightmare” across the country.

Back in 2018, Collins voted to pave the way for the Dobbs decision by confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. At the time, she said she believed that he would not play a role in overturning Roe v. Wade, which he did just a few years later. 

Collins has also missed more than half of all possible HELP Committee meetings during her current term. Between 2021 and March 2026, she did not attend 67 of 125 possible HELP Committee and relevant subcommittee hearings.

Among the hearings Collins skipped were a 2024 hearing on the medical debt crisis in America, a 2023 hearing on the childcare crisis and a 2025 hearing focused on lowering healthcare costs.

Collins additionally missed nearly half of HELP hearings related to healthcare issues more broadly, including hearings on substance use disorder treatment, diabetes and obesity."

A new independent poll shows political newcomer Graham Platner with a seven-point lead over five-term incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

That’s a three-point increase in the margin Platner held in a March poll by the same firm.

The poll conducted by Pan Atlantic Research is the first independent survey weighing a head-to-head matchup between Collins and Platner since Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign, effectively handing the Democratic nomination to the 41-year-old combat veteran.

Platner leads Collins, 48% to 41%, with 11% of voters undecided. He holds a 20-point advantage in the more liberal 1st Congressional District, while Collins holds a four-point edge in the more rural, conservative 2nd District.

The Pan Atlantic survey drew from a sample of 827 likely voters, and it had a margin of sampling error of 3.7%.

“Every single public poll last election showed Senator Collins losing her reelection, and every single poll was wrong,” said Collins campaign spokesperson Shawn Roderick in a statement. “We understand that pollsters have a difficult time figuring out Maine Senate races, but we would note that this same poll had (former Maine House Speaker) Sara Gideon beating Susan Collins by the same seven-point margin.”

The survey found Platner winning a key demographic. Independent voters, who account for about a third of the state’s electorate, prefer Platner by 13 points, 48% to 35%.

Despite touting himself as a working-class champion, the oyster farmer from Sullivan is the preferred candidate of educated voters. Fifty-six percent of those with a four-year degree support Platner, while Collins holds a one-point lead among those without a four-year degree, 44% to 43%.

Men prefer Collins, 47% to 44%, while Platner is the clear favorite among women, 53% to 34%, the poll found.

The survey also tested primaries for Maine governor, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting. None of the Republican or Democratic candidates received a majority in the simulated first round.

On the Democratic side, Nirav Shah, the former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, was the top choice for 29% of voters. He was followed by entrepreneur Angus King III (24%), former Senate President Troy Jackson (12%), Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (10%) and former Mills administration official Hannah Pingree (9%).

Of the 402 Democratic respondents, 16% were undecided on their top ranking.

After accounting for respondents’ second choices, Shah maintained his lead at 39%, followed by King (33%), Pingree (32%) and Bellows (31%).

“This poll confirms what we keep seeing on the ground in every corner of this state: Nirav Shah has the momentum in this race, and Mainers are excited to vote for him,” a Shah spokesperson said in a statement.

On the Republican side, attorney and consultant Bobby Charles remained the clear front-runner with 36% of respondents ranking him number one.

But a significant percentage of the 287 people who replied — 22% — remain undecided on their top choice, leaving room for each candidate to maneuver.

Charles is followed by entrepreneur Jonathan Bush and former Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, who were the first choices of 20% and 13% of respondents, respectively.

After accounting for respondents’ second choices, Charles’ support increased to 43%, Bush rose to 36% and Mason got 32%. There are seven Republicans running in the primary, which also includes real estate broker David Jones, medical technology entrepreneur Owen McCarthy, former fitness franchise executive Ben Midgley and Paris retail manager Robert Wessels.

Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said the high cost of living and inflation were their top issues, followed by healthcare and housing.

His signs say fight like hell, but it doesn't say what he is fighting. Godzilla? Brain slugs? E. Honda?

this is getting me excited for the Bernie Graham & Troy events coming up, in Orono on Sunday & Portland on Monday!! the labor led future for Maine is looking bright!

I’m new-ish (2.5 years 🤣) to the waterville Maine area and find it so awkward to meet new girlfriends here! Where are girls making friends??Im in Nursing school but my classes for the past 2 semesters are all Online so that hasn’t helped 😅 (i’m in my early 30s!)

Bowdoin College is subjecting me (a founding leader of Bowdoin Socialists, an anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and anti-Zionist student coalition) to a growing set of charges — including some tied to conduct while I was on medical leave — after I replied "RIP to bro 😿" to a campus email advertising a vigil for Charlie Kirk in September 2025. A fellow student reported the comment as a "direct threat to [their] life."

On February 12, 2026, Bowdoin Socialists published a compilation: "Bowdoin College's Jeffrey Epstein Connections," drawing on the January 2026 DOJ file release, the FCA's 2023 Decision Notice, and the Upper Tribunal's 2025 ruling in Staley v. FCA. One day later, Bowdoin's Director of Student Activities sent a written directive ordering Bowdoin Socialists to cease all online and offline activity on the grounds that we hadn't formally registered. However, student media are "editorially independent of the College and its administration" and the College "has no control over or input on the content of such publications and programming." When I questioned this on February 17, the Director simply replied that he was "passing this along to the Office of the Dean of Students for follow up."

On March 12, 2026, FIRE sent its first public letter to Bowdoin, calling the social media ban on Bowdoin Socialists a violation of our speech rights (at a private college).

On May 15, 2026, FIRE sent a second public letter condemning the ongoing investigations against me personally and demanding all charges be dropped. FIRE assigned a deadline of May 26 to respond.

Despite the ongoing pressure, Bowdoin Socialists is continuing to build out its speaker series for the coming academic year. We have announced two inaugural speakers and are currently in talks with a third:

Mahmood Mamdani is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University and one of the world's foremost scholars on colonialism and political violence. His books include Citizen and Subject, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Neither Settler nor Native, and, most recently, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State. Professor Mamdani is also the father of Zohran Mamdani '14, the Mayor of New York City, who founded Bowdoin's SJP chapter.

Anthony Fantano is widely recognized as the most influential music critic of his generation. In 2007, he joined WNPR and launched The Needle Drop as a music review blog before moving to YouTube in 2009. The channel has since accumulated approximately 1.2 billion views. The New York Times has called him "the only music critic who matters (if you're under 25)."

Hasan Piker is a leftist political commentator and one of the most-watched livestreamers in the United States. Bowdoin Socialists is currently in talks with Piker about an in-person event at the college.

I walked outside today in my yard for literally 2 seconds. Looked down and I had a lone star tick on my leg.

I’m typically not a fan of spraying my yard for pests for health and ecosystem issues.

The tick issue has definitely gotten worse over the years and this incident has me pretty freaked out.

Any recommendations for treating the tick issue that are better when it comes to my health, health of my neighbors and our ecosystem.

I’m going to try to do some research but the pesticide companies really infiltrate the google searches so I would like to cut through the bullshit if you know what I mean. If I need to spray for the sake of not getting Lyme disease or Alpha-Gal I’m opening to it but I’m hoping to find out what might be the best option / company etc.

If you see ICE activity nearby, stay safe and record Move to a safe indoor space if you believe immigration officers are in the area. Mainers who feel safe may observe and document activity from a distance. You are allowed to video record ICE agents.

Report ICE activity If you see suspected ICE agents, you can contact the Maine ICE Watch Hotline at (207) 544-9989. Trained volunteers verify reports before sharing information with community members.

Try to remember the SALUTE acronym when reporting:

S: Size (How many agents?)

A: Actions (What are they doing?)

L: Location and direction

U: Uniform or clothing

T: Time and date

E: Equipment, including vehicles and license plates