State of Maine Archives: on Principles & Values
Sara Gideon:
Courts pushed to the right, favors independent judiciary
On the judiciary: "Sen. Susan Collins has voted during Donald Trump's first two years of his presidency for every single nominee that Mitch McConnell put forward," said Gideon. "And totaling, as of today, 181 judicial nominees that has pushed the
Supreme Court very far to the right and made it very ideological." Gideon added that she wants to focus on having a judiciary that is independent.
Source: WMTW Portland ABC-8 on 2020 Maine Senate debate
Sep 29, 2020
Susan Collins:
Nine is good number for seats on Supreme Court
Collins said she is opposed to increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court while Gideon said the Senate should not hold a confirmation vote on nominee Amy Coney Barrett until January. "Nine is a good number," said Collins. "It's the number
we've had since 1869. It would make the court a political organization, which the framers of the Constitution never intended, if we were to expand the size." Collins also pointed out that the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said 9 is a good number.
Source: WMTW Portland ABC-8 on 2020 Maine Senate debate
Sep 29, 2020
Janet Mills:
We are not Washington; we are Maine
Tariffs and trade wars, threats of terrorism and partisan fighting paralyze the nation's capital. But here in Maine, we are doing what Mainers have done for more than two centuries:
putting our shoulder to the wheel and working across the aisle to get things done for Maine people. Because we are not Washington. We are Maine.
Source: 2020 Maine State of the State address
Jan 21, 2020
Sara Gideon:
Public service is about improving the lives of people
Gideon said, "My core belief then is still really my core belief now about public service. And that the idea and the belief that public service is really essentially about one thing. It's about how you improve the lives of people around you and how you
lift people up.""If you are willing to listen and if you are willing to sit around the table, sometimes especially with the people who you think you disagree with the most, it is still really possible to get things done," Gideon said.
Source: Portland Press Herald on 2020 Maine Senate race
Dec 8, 2019
Susan Rice:
Fierce love of country should override disagreements
We can't take the view that, because you and I disagree over politics or religion, or whatever it is, that we're dismissing each other as Americans. If that happens, our country's going to fall apart. There are people who are benefiting politically
from pulling us apart. We, as Americans, can't allow that to happen. We have got to have the same sort of fierce love of our country and tough love that we try to apply in the family context, challenging as it sometimes is.
Source: PBS Newshour on 2020 Maine Senate race
Oct 11, 2019
Chris Lyons:
Personal belief in God is fine; government action is not
Q: What about government-supported displays of God in the public sphere?A: All of us have the 'right' to believe in God or not. Simple as that. The state (federal, state, county, district or municipality) is not to show bias one way or the other.
It is not wrong for people to voice their belief in God and it is not wrong for people to voice their opposition against the idea of God. What is wrong is either side attempting or successfully using the force of government to do one or the other.
Source: Follow-up OnTheIssues interview: 2018 Maine Senate candidate
Mar 10, 2018
Chris Lyons:
Keep God in the public sphere
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Keep God in the public sphere"?
A: support
Source: OnTheIssues interview of 2018 Maine Senate candidate
Mar 6, 2018
Shenna Bellows:
Calls herself a progressive libertarian
Labeling herself as a progressive libertarian, the crowd seemed intrigued by Bellows' earnest and knowledgeable responses. How her stance on the global concerns will further her candidacy is somewhat of a question.
By representing and meeting at the small-town, local level, she hopes that her message will spread. As federal [actions] effect local issues, it is important, she believes, to talk to those being directly effected.
Source: Machias Valley News Observer on 2014 Maine Senate race
Dec 4, 2013
Shenna Bellows:
Head of Maine ACLU, and community organizer
Shenna Bellows has served as the Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union since March of 2005.
She returned home to Maine, where she grew up, after spending two years as a National Field Organizer at the ACLU Legislative Office in Washington, D.C.
In Washington, Shenna was a leader in post-9/11 issues, developing a field program around the Patriot Act, as well as working to defeat several constitutional amendments that would have undermined the criminal justice system, freedom of speech,
and LGBT rights.In 2001 and 2002, Bellows was a Program Associate at Community IMPACT! in Nashville, TN, launching neighborhood-based, youth-centered programming in economically and racially diverse neighborhoods.
Source: Maine Humanities Council biography, mainehumanities.org
Nov 14, 2013
Susan Collins:
Focuses on seniority & forging bipartisan solutions
Two-term incumbent Senator Collins touted her experience and seniority in the Senate and her efforts to forge bipartisan solutions to the country’s problems by co-sponsoring legislation with Democrats.
Six-term Rep. Allen took aim at the Bush administration by saying it has failed middle-class Americans and put the nation deep into debt.
Source: 2008 Maine Senate debate reported in Kennebec Journal
Sep 21, 2008
Page last updated: Oct 13, 2021