 
                          Maine's Political Pulse
                      
                  
             Maine's Political Pulse taps into the expertise of our top political reporters, Steve Mistler and Mal Leary.
- 
                        For nearly two months, Graham Platner’s bid for the U.S. Senate was marked by momentum and bravado as the political newcomer drew big crowds to his town halls and he channeled Democratic voters’ hopes for a newer, brasher kind of candidate. During an interview in late September, he said, “I’ll just say, it’s been very surreal.” Reality has arrived over the past week. Now comes a test of Democratic primary voters' risk aversion.
- 
                        State House correspondent Kevin Miller spoke with political science professor Jim Melcher from the University of Maine-Farmington about Gov. Janet Mills' bid for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins next fall.
- 
                        Proponents of Question 2 argue that the existing law — often referred to as Maine’s yellow flag law — is a failed experiment that was not used to stop a gunman in Lewiston from killing 18 people and injuring and traumatizing countless others in 2023 despite warnings about his deteriorating mental health.
- 
                        The competing narratives about Question 1’s true objectives and potential impacts are perhaps best epitomized by the names of the groups leading the fight on either side: Voter ID for ME and the Save Maine Absentee Voting Coalition.
- 
                        There’s a bonafide primary contest among Democrats in the Maine race for the U.S. Senate. And one of the leading contestants, Gov. Janet Mills, isn't even an official candidate yet.
- 
                        Defeating Susan Collins is Graham Platner’s primary goal, but he and his campaign also signaled that they’re gearing up for a potential fight against power brokers in the Democratic National Committee.
- 
                        The 2026 gubernatorial election is 16 months away, yet Republican hopeful Bobby Charles has already managed to break through the mostly routine campaign rollouts by the rest of the ever-growing field of candidates.
- 
                        The Maine Legislature wrapped up this year’s session on Wednesday night. Here's what they got done and still have left to do.
- 
                        This week we’re gonna catch up on the latest from the State House where the Legislature is racing toward the end of the session. There’s a lot going on. But we’re going to focus on a few highlights, starting with a conflict between Democrats and Republicans over a "red flag" bill that will appear as a ballot measure in November.
- 
                        Nearly one year after President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in the hopes of stopping certification of the 2020 election, the Maine House of Representatives debated a resolution commemorating the assault on Congress that ultimately led to the conviction of more than 1,270 rioters.
- 
                        Some members of Congress, including most of Maine's delegation, are increasingly uneasy with President Donald Trump's tariffs — but efforts to curtail his power are likely going nowhere.
- 
                        Welcome to April and a political news cycle that never stops. This week we’re going to focus on a few developments with the goal of providing a little clarity and context that isn’t always achievable when news breaks and deadlines loom.
