| 🗞 The Daily Brief is made possible by Bangor Daily News subscribers. Support the work of our politics team and enjoy unlimited access to everything the BDN has to offer by subscribing here. |
|
News and notes
The governor highlighted her family and legislative dealmaking in her first two ads.
— In the first set of ads from gubernatorial candidates in 2022, Gov. Janet Mills took a light touch, releasing two ads that accentuate her role as stepmother to her widower's children. The other is about her first term in office, mentioning increased school funding, a recent round of $850 relief checks and a good grade from conservative economists for pandemic management.
— The ads are running in the Portland and Bangor markets and online. Federal disclosures on the purchases were not immediately available on Monday.
— The two ads represent a large part of Mills' message in public so far at a time when federal aid to Maine has allowed her to travel the state and highlight spending items. Former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, has called the aid "funny money" and has said Mills has spent too much, too fast, but surplus have remained healthy and the rainy day fund has been at record highs.
LePage kicks off events featuring top-tier candidates in Bangor.
— He will speak to members of the Rotary Club of Bangor at noon Tuesday at the Richard Dyke Center for Family Business at Husson University.
— Other major Maine candidates will be there each week at the same time through Aug. 23, with Golden, Mills and Poliquin following the former governor, respectively.
— It's one of the first chances to see the candidates in a common environment, since few of them have had to break out of comfortable crowds so far during the more low-key portion of their races. |
|
📱Want daily texts from me tipping you to political stories before they break?
Get Pocket Politics. It is free for 14 days and $3.99 per month if you like it. |
|
What we're reading
— A protester was arrested outside the Mount Desert Island home of Leonard Leo, the co-chair of the conservative Federalist Society, after being accused of disorderly conduct in a case that may be linked to his swearing at Leo in downtown Bar Harbor earlier in the day.
— Collins and three Senate colleagues unveiled their long-awaited bill to codify abortion rights after a Supreme Court ruling that threw out federal protections. The Senate filibuster still makes it unlikely to pass.
— Maine restaurants and hotels saw a major bump in business this May, with taxable sales at lodging businesses up 18 percent from the same month in 2021 and restaurants up 8 percent despite deep staffing shortages.
— The only nursing home in the Deer Isle region was allowed to keep its license despite remaining closed since 2021. It is a reprieve that gives local officials more time to plot at least a partial reopening.
— Updated boosters for the COVID-19 variant driving cases now will be available in September, Maine's top health official told Maine Public. |
|
| 💰 Want to advertise in the Daily Brief? Write our sales team. |
|
|
|
