r/Mainepolitics

"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."

"U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined Senate Republicans on Wednesday in blocking a Democratic effort to restore consumer protections rolled back under Pres. Donald Trump, marking the second time in just over a year that she has sided with banks over efforts to limit predatory charges.

The votes targeted a series of policy changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the Trump administration took over the agency in early 2025. Those changes weakened oversight of major financial institutions and stripped away protections for consumers, military families and people dealing with medical debt.

Wednesday’s vote continued a broader pattern for Collins on banking issues. In March 2025, she voted to overturn a separate CFPB rule that would have capped overdraft fees at $5. Her votes come as she has accepted nearly $2 million from finance sector donors this election cycle, including more than $500,000 from private equity and investment firms.

One of the resolutions would have restored a Biden-era CFPB policy requiring banks to get a customer’s affirmative consent before charging overdraft fees. Republicans voted the measure down 47-53, with Collins voting against it.

“The Trump Administration is hell-bent on destroying the agency,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee."

Finally saw my first Platner sign in my corner of York County. On the lawn of a former Trump supporter lol. This guy go on Joe Rogan yet or no?

"It seems especially fitting in this election year to remember a decision that reshaped the lives of women in Maine and across the country: Sen. Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.

In the months following Kavanaugh’s nomination hundreds of people, mostly women, protested and implored Sen. Collins to vote “No” on his appointment. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford had contacted Sen. Dianne Feinstein in July 2018 to report that she had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh years earlier. Given the crude attitudes toward women held by the president who nominated Kavanaugh, the report by Dr. Ford caught the attention of hundreds of Maine constituents and women nationwide.

In September of 2018, protesters packed the hallways and office of Sen. Collins’ Portland office to emotionally share their own stories. We sat and listened to the stories, often moved to tears by the bravery the women displayed and the trauma they had suffered. At 5 p.m. on the day of the protest, the staff asked people to leave. Two minutes later, the staff directed the Portland Police to arrest us, which they did. We were handcuffed, escorted out and charged with criminal trespassing. Others were arrested in her office in the following days.

Dr. Ford courageously testified before Congress on Sept. 27 in a hearing reminiscent of another hearing — that of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas. Brave women speaking their truths before dismissive powerful men. Powerful men being anointed with lifelong seats on the highest court in the U.S.

At the same time, the stakes were clear. Advocates warned that Kavanaugh could help overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for reproductive rights and rolling back decades of progress. That warning proved correct and set the status of women back to the last century.

Protests continued throughout October with hundreds of constituents flooding Sen. Collins with demonstrations, emails and phone calls. Unable to speak directly with the senator in Maine, protesters travelled to Washington to ask Collins to hear them in her D.C. office. Many were arrested.

During her speech on the House floor when she was casting her vote Sen. Collins said that she had spoken with thousands of Mainers about Brett Kavanaugh. It may be true that thousands contacted her urging her to vote no. Saying that she actually spoke with them is laughable.

We know that she did speak with Kavanaugh and believed him when she said he would follow precedent regarding Roe v. Wade. He did not and here we are, and the consequences are undeniable: women dying, unable to access healthcare, being relegated to second class citizens unworthy of even emergency care in some cases. 

When Mainers go to the polls this November they should remember the catastrophic impact Susan Collins’ actions have had on the women of Maine and this country. Vote her out before more damage is done."

"No Polling Place found"

Says to contact my clerk, but it only has a name.

We became a territory a couple years ago. Last 2 elections I voted by mail. The "town office" does not exist anymore.

Really wanted to vote in person this year vs mail in ballots.

Has anyone run into this? Am I better off voting by mail again?

Also, does anyone have the site to check registration? I have checked the state, but it only had an option to register.

Thanks.

(Sorry for the typo in the header.

Jonathan Bush physically assaulted his first wife:

"After their older children left for school, Bush assaulted his first wife in a hallway while she held their 1-year-old son in her arms, according to court documents that also say she filed for divorce a few months before the November incident. Bush “screamed” into her face, calling her a “whore” and “disgusting person” while pushing her into a wall and “repeatedly slamming his closed fist into her sternum,” with his hand landing “just inches” from their baby.

In filing an emergency motion to make Bush leave their home, Selden Bush said the conditions in the home had “deteriorated dramatically” between June and November 2005, adding that the health and safety of her and the children were at risk. She also alleged Bush struck her on “numerous occasions” and once gave her a black eye, per court records.

Bush admitted to the November 2005 incident during a deposition the following year. He testified he was “unsure of where his hands had come in contact with” his first wife but said he “intended to touch her.” He also admitted on two other occasions to throwing a “small telephone” and “salt shaker” at her, putting holes in the wall."

COURT DOCUMENTED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ABUSER AND FAILED HEALTH COMPANY CEO JONATHAN BUSH WANTS TO PRIVATIZE MAINECARE AND USE AI TO DENY MAINERS MAINECARE

"On Friday, Maine Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for governor Shenna Bellows took aim at health corporation CEO and Republican candidate for governor Jonathan Bush’s support for privatizing Medicaid in Maine.

“Medicaid has made health care accessible for thousands of Mainers. Bush’s plans are a death wish for them and for rural hospitals,” Bellows said. “Jonathan Bush is showing just how out of touch he is and how he and MAGA are always going to put profit over Mainers.”

In a debate last month, Bush declared that he wanted to “get Augusta out of the Medicaid delivery business. prune it back like an invasive species, like the knotweed that it is.”

In a radio appearance on WLOB, he described Medicaid privatization as his top health care priority.

“So first thing we do is cut that back,” Bush said. “Focus the government programs on helping people get back, and then the rest goes to the free market. Then we prune, we go back and we say no more government-run Medicaid.”

Unlike most states, Maine does not contract with a private insurance company to run its Medicaid system, also known as MaineCare. Federal data shows states with privatized systems have average administrative overhead costs of 12.54%, while states with publicly-managed systems have average overhead costs of 4.9%.

In addition to increased costs going to middlemen, insurance companies running state Medicaid systems also have incentives to maximize their own profits by limiting enrollment and denying care, with several studies indicating these practices have led to significantly worse health outcomes for residents of those states.

A recent study published in the journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that in the four years following the de-privatization of Medicaid in Connecticut, early-stage cancer diagnoses increased by 4% compared to neighboring New Jersey, which maintained its insurance-company run Medicaid system.

In the same radio appearance, Bush also proposed using AI to deny Medicaid coverage for Mainers.

“You could have an AI agent go through everybody’s circumstances and say, these don’t meet the criteria,” Bush said.

Bush was CEO of private health company Athenahealth until he resigned in 2018 amid domestic violence and sexual harassment allegations. He now serves as CEO of Zushealth, which describes itself as a “next-generation shared health data platform.”

The two largest contributors to the PAC supporting Bush (and attacking Republican front-runner Bobby Charles) are health insurance corporation CEO Todd Park and private equity fund manager Sumir Chadha, who serves on the board of both a health insurance corporation and a "healthcare AI platform."

Bellows also criticized the other candidates in the Republican primary for their silence on the issue, which she framed as tacit agreement with Bush’s statements.

“The fact that every candidate isn’t pushing back is proof that they care more about tax breaks for billionaires than whether Mainers can get the care they need,” Bellows said."

How do they stand on Remote work for state employees?

I know it saves money for the state and gives people a chance to work that may not have been able too before. I also know it can be a hot button for some people.

I have not seen anyone address anything on the topic.

Has anyone else's town been covered in Jones for Governor sign? Where I live there are signs all over a rotary, a graveyard, and they're so close together. Is any of that legal?