Maine's Political Pulse

Maine's Political Pulse

Maine's Political Pulse taps into the expertise of our political reporters Steve Mistler and Kevin Miller.Click here to subscribe to Maine's Political Pulse Newsletter.Maine's Political Pulse is made possible through the generous support of Lee Auto Malls and Maine Public's viewers and listeners.

Episodes

June 20, 2025: Wrapping up the legislative session

June 20, 2025 • 10 mins
The Maine Legislature wrapped up this year’s session on Wednesday night. Here's what they got done and still have left to do.
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June 6, 2025: Maine lawmakers spar over 'red flag' proposal

June 6, 2025 • 9 mins
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.
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May 16, 2025: Rewriting Jan. 6, a possible primary challenge for Jared Golden

May 16, 2025 • 10 mins
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.
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April 14, 2025: Where Maine's federal lawmakers stand on Donald Trump's tariff policy

April 14, 2025 • 6 mins
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.
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April 4, 2025: Title IX, tariffs and the other stories driving Maine's political frenzy

April 4, 2025 • 9 mins
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.
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March 14, 2025: As Trump makes the trade war about Canada's sovereignty, Maine hopes it won't pay the price

March 14, 2025 • 8 mins
Trump has said repeatedly he wants Canada to become the 51st state. It's a statement sometimes laughed off in the U.S., but viewed as deadly serious in Canada.
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Feb. 21, 2025: Maine’s new 3-day waiting period law could become test case in new legal landscape on guns

February 21, 2025 • 11 mins
Maine’s new, three-day waiting period on gun purchases passed the Legislature by the slimmest possible margin last year and narrowly averted a veto from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Now, gun rights advocates think the law could become the vehicle to erase waiting period laws in Maine and roughly a dozen other states.
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Feb. 7, 2025: For years, RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine rhetoric has found receptive ears in Maine

February 7, 2025 • 8 mins
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to push the long debunked claim that childhood vaccines cause autism. He has also argued that the COVID-19 vaccine was part of an elite plot to prolong the pandemic and shun other unproven or debunked remedies.
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Jan. 31, 2025: Trump’s funding freeze and the clarion call for Maine, national Dems

January 31, 2025 • 9 mins
Democrats’ response this week to President Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze all federal grants and loans already approved by Congress was a rare moment of swift, unified and urgent condemnation.
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Jan. 17, 2025: Janet Mills' plan to fill Maine's first budget hole in over a decade

January 17, 2025 • 12 mins
The tax and fee changes that Gov. Janet Mills put forward last week in her budget only add up to about $150 million in a two-year state spending plan that tops $11.6 billion. But new taxes and fees are always controversial, even when they are narrowly “targeted,” as Mills argues in this case.
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June 12, 2024: Political Pulse primary elections recap

June 12, 2024 • 8 mins
A look back at Tuesday's results and what they mean.
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June 7, 2024: A primary primer as parties prepare to pick politicians at polls in Maine

June 7, 2024 • 7 mins
Tuesday is primary election day in Maine (again) as voters head to the polls to select party nominees for Congress, the Legislature and local offices.
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May 2, 2024: Here are the major takeaways from the 2nd session of the Maine Legislature

May 2, 2024 • 8 mins
While lawmakers will return to the State House next week to take up the governor’s vetoes, the 131st Legislature has already left its imprint on some of the issues and challenges confronting the state.
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March 29, 2024: Maine Democrats make last-minute push for 'red flag' gun law

March 29, 2024 • 9 mins
Republicans have described the proposal as a late-session ambush designed to catch gun rights groups and the public off guard.
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March 15, 2024: Politics roundup: Gun bills, Netflix tax

March 15, 2024 • 13 mins
Maine lawmakers are plodding toward a mid-April adjournment with a slew of contentious issues to resolve, including gun safety and a new spending plan. Meanwhile, a divided Congress continues its obsession with the November election in its quest for historically unproductive governance.
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March 1, 2024: What to know about Maine's primary elections ahead of Super Tuesday

March 1, 2024 • 7 mins
Next Tuesday, voters in Maine and more than a dozen other states will cast ballots during the single-largest primary day of the 2024 elections.By presidential primary standards, this year’s Super Tuesday contests are relatively anti-climactic because the Republican and Democratic tickets are pretty much set at this point. Absent some ground-shaking legal or political developments, the nation appears headed for a Biden-Trump rematch...
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Feb. 9, 2024: What the immigration bill's spectacular collapse means for Maine

February 9, 2024 • 11 mins
Bowing to pressure from former President Donald Trump, a majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate this week helped torpedo the bipartisan immigration bill that would have restricted and overhauled the asylum process while giving the president clear authority to close the border.The failure to advance the bill after four months of negotiations ensures that immigration will remain a key campaign issue in the 2024 presidential and c...
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Feb. 1, 2024: With new proposals, Janet Mills treads lightly into charged gun debate

February 1, 2024 • 9 mins
Gov. Janet Mills reset the political debate over guns in Maine on Tuesday by unveiling a suite of policy proposals that she says were shaped or inspired by conversations since October’s mass shooting in Lewiston.
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Dec. 29, 2023: The fallout from deciding to keep Trump off Maine's primary ballot

December 29, 2023 • 6 mins
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has decided to keep former President Donald Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot. Here's why.
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Nov. 8, 2023: Maine election results

November 8, 2023 • 6 mins
Chief political correspondent Steve Mistler joins Morning Edition host Irwin Gratz to discuss Tuesday's election results in Maine.
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