2020 Congressional Campaign Updates is a new feature of U.S. RESIST NEWS. Written by reporter William Bourque, the updates will help our leaders follow key races in the House and Senate that are key to the ability of democrats to gain control of both houses of Congress.
Update # 2 Senator Collins Faces Strong Challenge from Speaker Gideon
June 1, 2020
Susan Collins has long been respected as a moderate and fair Senator her entire career, that is, until she sold out her constituents and voted for Brett Kavanaugh. This was the final straw for many moderate Mainers who may now plan to cast their vote for Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon, a progressive democrat from Freeport, ME.
Gideon is a second-generation American who was the leader of the push against Paul LePage, the state’s former Republican governor. Gideon is seen as the likely choice for the democratic nomination by many in the state and, after announcing her candidacy on June 24, 2019, Gideon raised over 1 million dollars in the first week of her campaign. Since then, Gideon has out-fundraised Collins by about 1.5 million dollars, with about 43% of those donations coming from small, individual contributions. On the Collins side, only 10% of donations have been smaller individual contributions, and about 80% of the candidates money has come from large individual donations and PAC’s. This has to be alarming to many Mainers, who have seen Collins as a senator by the people, for the people. However, as the nation and Maine’s political landscapes have changed, Collins has too, becoming more partisan and taking a significantly larger amount of money from PAC’s and larger individual donors.
Delving a bit deeper into the candidates financial backings, opensecrets.org reports that Votesane PAC has been the largest contributor to the Collins campaign, putting $116,325 into Collins at this point in the campaign. Gideon, on the other hand, had her largest donation from EMILY’s List, a nonprofit that supports progressive women running for Congress. Gideon has already garnered an endorsement from the organization, so it’s no surprise to see them as her leading donor. Gideon looks to keep up the pressure on Collins, financially at least, as she raised 7.1 million dollars during the first quarter of 2020, reports the Portland Press Herald.
Although Gideon isn’t the official nominee, with a July 14th primary still to claim that, Gideon seems to have garnered a significant amount of support from the Democratic establishment in Washington, who understand the importance of Senator Collins to her party. This election cycle marks a potentially historic moment for the state of Maine, who could be represented by a congressional contingent that doesn’t include a Republican for the first time since before the Civil War. Polls suggest that this may not come to fruition, with District 2 Representative Jared Golden facing a hard fight in a district Trump won in 2016. With the senate race however, local and national polls show that Gideon may be a step ahead of the incumbent, with the Bangor Daily News reporting that a poll done by Victory Geek shows Gideon with a 9 point lead. Most experts suggest that this race is key in the Democratic strategy to take control of the senate, which will most certainly mean money from across the country may be funneled into this race by Democrats and Republicans alike. The battle for the senate is just heating up and this race in Maine is one to watch for an indication of how the rest of the country may vote in presidential and congressional elections alike.
2020 Congressional Campaign Updates
2020 Congressional Campaign Updates is a new feature of U.S. RESIST NEWS. Written by reporter William Bourque, the updates will help our leaders follow key races in the House and Senate that are key to the ability of democrats to gain control of both houses of Congress.