Free Republic

Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., award all their presidential electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide. Then there’s Nebraska and Maine. Both states split their electoral votes between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election using rules that set them apart from the rest of the country. The two states each award two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote, as well as one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district. Nebraska has three congressional districts and five total electoral votes, while Maine has two congressional districts...

Trump easily defeated his Democratic rival, winning 52% versus 41% for Harris. About 6% of the vote was split among three other candidates on the ballot. Maine's student mock election has accurately forecast the national winner of every presidential election since 2008,

Maine’s top Democratic officials are declining to make any new efforts to secure Maine’s elections against non-citizen voting in the wake of an exclusive report from the Maine Wire showing that non-citizens are registered to vote in Maine. The Maine Wire’s Oct. 10 report used leaked data from Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, that showed the alien status of 18 individuals living in southern Maine and compared that data to voter registration information from the Maine Secretary of State’s office. Medicaid documents list the alien status of all patients according to three options: 1-U.S. Citizens, 2-Legal Alien, or 3-Other....

16 pet cats have suddenly disappeared in Bangor, Maine. No remains were found. Experts don't believe an animal did this. Bangor just had an influx of Haitians.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A bill introduced after a mass shooting in Maine would require the Army to use state crisis intervention laws to remove the weapons of a service member who is deemed to be a serious threat to themselves or others, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the bill’s sponsor, said Monday.... It requires the military to participate in state crisis actions, including so-called red flag or yellow flag laws aimed at removing weapons from someone who’s experiencing a psychiatric emergency.... The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office was asked to go to Card’s home and check on his well-being after he’d...

Largely shedding Joe Biden’s canard that Trump must be defeated to save democracy, Kamala Harris’ conceit is that she prosecutes criminals and Donald Trump is one. “I know Donald Trump’s type,” she sneers. As San Francisco district attorney and then California attorney general, Harris supported jailing parents of truants, suppressed evidence, keeping an innocent man on death row, repeatedly covered up misconduct, leading to the dismissal of more than 600 cases, incarcerated prisoners beyond their sentences, violated Federal laws that protect donor privacy, and failed to disclose conflicts of interest arising from her personal relationships. Her record of abusing prosecutorial...

he top abortion provider in northern New England claimed in a virtual press conference last week that a projected deficit in revenue will require “significant financial support to continue offering its lifesaving health care services.” Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), which provides abortions and contraceptives in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, painted a grim picture of its financial status, explaining in an accompanying press release that the organization is “facing a projected financial deficit of $8.6 million over the next three years,” a situation that may require it to “change how and where it offers services.” PPNNE’s spokespersons...

A Maine congresswoman who told Americans to wear hand-me-downs to fight climate change has clocked in over 100,000 miles traveling the globe in the lap of luxury. Chellie Pingree, 69, expensed over $100,000 in business class flights, luxury hotels and dining while her and her team clocked in over 130,000 miles around the globe. According to an investigation by the Maine Wire, Pingree, who prides herself on fighting climate change, was responsible for roughly 15.98 metric tons of emissions. The outlet uncovered that since 2016, 21 taxpayer-funded trips by air across the globe have related to her work as a...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Three Army Reserve officers were disciplined for dereliction of duty following a rampage in which a reservist killed 18 people in Maine, according to an Army report that cited communication failures within the chain of command and between military and civilian hospitals, among other shortcomings. The report released Tuesday unearthed “a series of failures by unit leadership,” said Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, chief of the Army Reserves, and administrative actions taken against the officers could prevent their further military advancement. The officers weren't identified. Survivors and victims’ family members have been critical over missed opportunities to...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Sen. Susan Collins didn’t vote for Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020, and the third time will not be the charm — because she is writing in Nikki Haley. “I publicly endorsed Nikki Haley, and I wanted her to win. She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it,” Collins told WMTW-TV. Collins said she “does not support the Democratic nominee either” and supports “some of President Trump’s policies.” However, she also said “a lot of it is...

While the mass migration crisis has overwhelmingly taken place at the southern border between the United States and Mexico, there is a similar record-breaking surge across the northern border between the United States and Canada as well... data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows that fiscal year 2024 has currently seen 12,859 illegal aliens cross the northern border. This marks a far larger amount than the previous three fiscal years under Joe Biden. By comparison, there were just 916 northern border crossings in fiscal year 2021, followed by 2,238 in fiscal year 2022, and 10,021 in fiscal year 2023....

Mainers are going to decide in November whether to adopt a new flag, but the state needs to settle on a design first. Anyone can submit a design proposal as long as it's based on the state's original flag, which featured a simple pine tree and blue star against an off-white background. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced the flag contest Friday. The deadline is July 19.

The Government of Maine has really big plans for floating wind, a floating net zero fantasy, in fact. Since floating wind power is the next big green thing, it is worth taking a close look at this ruinous vision. Floating wind is a fad, not an established technology. It has yet to be built at utility scale or tested in a hurricane. The world’s biggest grid-connected system is a tiny 50 MW and just came online off Scotland. The cost of floating wind is necessarily much greater than fixed wind. A fixed wind tower sits on a simple monopile, while...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault easily defeated fellow state lawmaker Mike Soboleski in Tuesday’s Republican primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, setting up a showdown with U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in November. *** While Soboleski argued he had a stronger conservative voting record than Theriault, the Trump endorsement was important in the race between two candidates who each touted their support for the ex-president …. Theriault repeatedly highlighted Trump’s endorsement in debates, interviews and ads. His pugnacious primary campaign was far different against the one he crafted during his 2022 race for the St. John Valley seat...

Portland Press Herald Portland startup that became global leader in capturing carbon shuts down, lays off all staff Running Tide, which raised more than $50 million from private investors since it was founded in 2017, fell victim to a collapse in voluntary carbon market prices, its CEO says. June 15, 2024 Kelley Bouchard, Staff Writer A Portland-based startup that pioneered ocean carbon-removal technology, and sold credits to offset the emissions of major clients such as Microsoft, shut down and laid off its last employees on Friday because it could no longer sell enough carbon credits to survive, its CEO said....

Democrat lawmaker Chellie Pingree called for less border security and advocated for more migrants to be bused to her state, claiming there aren't 'enough locals to fill jobs.' The Representative from Maine, who has served as Maine's 1st congressional district since 2009, spoke for over two minutes during a House Appropriations Committee debate on the fiscal year 2025 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill. She expressed support for a Democrat-proposed amendment that would redirect $600 million from border fencing construction to a FEMA-administered municipal emergency shelter program, the Shelter and Services Program. The program would pay for migrant housing...

ARepublican lawmaker announced he is retiring from politics due to a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump's victory in a Congressional primary election. Trump-backed candidate Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver and state representative, defeated State Representative Michael Soboleski in the primary for Maine's 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday. He will face off against Democratic Congressman Jared Golden, a top GOP target in the November elections in what could be one of the most competitive House races of the election cycle. State Representative John Andrews, who was a supporter and campaign manager for Soboleski, wrote in a Facebook post...

Even those who dislike the former President see a case of legal and political malpractice.How dare Mitt Romney. And Sens. Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell. The anti-Trump press corps is dismayed that Republicans of all stripes, even those who aren’t fond of Donald Trump, have criticized the Manhattan prosecution and guilty verdict. The media coverage after the verdict has followed the usual Trump-era pattern. Democrats pursue some anti-Trump operation—impeachment, a Russia collusion probe, a prosecution. The press then descends as one to chide Republicans, with the unsubtle implication that they must be unethical sellouts if they oppose what Democrats are...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer. The sale, from storage sites in New Jersey and Maine, will be allocated in increments of 100,000 barrels at a time. The approach will create a competitive bidding process that ensures gasoline can flow into local retailers ahead of the July 4 holiday and sold at competitive prices, the Energy Department said. The move is intended to help “lower costs for American families and...

The northern border shares something in common with the southern border of the United States - it is understaffed and Border Patrol agents are stretched thin. Despite a lack of proper support, agents at the northern border continue to apprehend a record number of illegal border crossers. In the busiest northern border sector of Swanton, Border Patrol agents made history by apprehending the greatest number of illegal border crossers in sector history of 1,109 in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. While the numbers are significantly lower than those apprehended at the southwest border, they are out...