Free Republic

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Ranked choice voting will be used for the first time in a presidential race under a ruling Tuesday by the Maine Supreme Court, which concluded a GOP petition drive came up short. The Supreme Judicial Court concluded that the Maine Republican Party failed to reach the threshold of signatures needed for a “People’s Veto” referendum aimed at rejecting a state law that expands ranked choice voting to the presidential election. The GOP collected tens of thousands of signatures but came up shy of the needed level of 67,067 after some were invalidated.

The Los Angeles Times featured a story on Thursday about a wedding in Maine, which the CDC believes “likely” caused a COVID-19 outbreak, to argue that people should reconsider their small holiday gatherings. “If you want to know why public health officials are so nervous about how much worse the COVID-19 pandemic will get as the holiday season unfolds, consider what happened after a single, smallish wedding reception that took place this summer in rural Maine,” the article states. The LA Times claims that while only 55 people were actually at the reception, one guest reportedly spread the virus before...

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine offered her congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden on his "apparent victory," saying Monday that he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris "should be given every opportunity to ensure that they are ready to govern on January 20th." Collins, who won her own close race last week, is one of a handful Republicans who have congratulated Biden while President Donald Trump, who has yet to concede, continues to call the result of the election into question, without giving evidence to back up his claims of wrongdoing. Collins said Biden "loves this country, and I wish him every...

I would offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden on his apparent victory..the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect should be given every opportunity to ensure that they are ready to govern on January 20th. I understand that the President and others have questions about the results in certain states. There is a process in place to challenge those results and, consistent with that process, the President should be afforded the opportunity to do so. I know that many are eager to have certainty right now. While we have a clear direction, we should continue to respect that process. I urge people to...

@PpollingNumbers #BREAKING Susan Collins (R-Inc) says Sara Gideon (D) called her to concede the race. Maine Senate over, Collins reelected.

An Emerson College poll conducted between October 29 and 31 showed Gideon with a 48 percent to 42 percent lead over Collins, and 61 percent of supporters of both Savage and independent Max Linn, polling at 5 percent and 1 percent, respectively, would back Gideon on their second choice. Collins entered the Senate in 1997 as one of Maine’s two independently minded Republican women senators alongside Olympia Snowe. The junior senator survived in the New England state as a politically savvy member of the GOP in a liberalizing region by touting her independence and reasonableness, but the tension between her...

Video at link. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Amy Coney Barrett “an illegitimate Supreme Court justice" during an Election Day news conference on Tuesday, just one week after Barrett was confirmed as President Trump's third Supreme Court pick. “The president is installing an illegitimate Supreme Court justice one week before the election, after 60 million Americans have voted, who will dismantle the ACA, and won’t say, by the way, when asked, by Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein [D-Calif.], do you think Medicare is constitutional? She said she really couldn’t say." The GOP-led Senate confirmed Barrett in a largely party-line 52-48 vote...

President Donald Trump and Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden are in a dead heat as they vie for the one electoral vote in Maine’s Second Congressional District, according to a poll released Thursday. While Biden maintains a double-digit lead statewide, the poll found his lead slimmed down to within the margin of error, 49 percent to 46 percent, in the state’s rural Second District, placing the candidates in a statistical tie there. The poll was conducted by SurveyUSA and commissioned by FairVote October 23–27, notably overlapping with several campaign appearances, including from Trump himself in a surprise visit Sunday; Biden’s...

Maine voters also favor Vice President Joe Biden over President Trump, 51-38 percent, although Biden's lead shrinks to 4 points in the 2nd Congressional District. In what could be one of the final polls of the U.S. Senate race before Election Day, Democrat Sara Gideon continues to hold a narrow 3-point lead over Republican incumbent Susan Collins among likely Maine voters. A survey of 879 individuals, developed and fielded by Colby College of Waterville, revealed that 46.6 percent of voters said they plan to vote for Gideon, compared to 43.4 percent for Collins. Independents Lisa Savage and Max Linn received...

#MESen: Gideon (D) 46% Collins (R-inc) 45% Savage (I) 4% Linn (I) 1% 2-Way: Gideon (D) 51% Collins (R-Inc) 49% SurveyUSA 10/23-10/27

Republicans Collins, Murkowski, and Romney vote Yea. All Republicans vote yes. Kamala Harris not present and not voting. All Democrats vote No.

Meet the new Justice of the Supreme Court -- Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Amy Coney Barrett has been CONFIRMED to the Supreme Courton a Party line vote. 52-48. One Republican turned her back and voted with the Democrats, Susan Collins of Maine. Congratulations to Justice Barrett and may God Bless the United States of America!

Guest Piece by America’s History Teacher, Larry Schweikart Confession: I rarely watch conservative, or so-called conservative, news sites. You can get some information that way, but I find it much more instructive to watch the reactions of liberals to the stories of the day. That is an instant indicator of who is winning and losing. For example, if the Washington Post says “Trump must change tone or face loss,” you know that Trump’s tone is deadly effective. Or, if Politico headlines “Some Senator Say McConnell Moving Too Fast on Barrett Nomination,” you know that Yertle is moving at light speed...

After his magnificent massive and successful campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire yesterday afternoon, the POTUS, Trump & the Trump campaign made a delightful side trip in to the great state of Maine to visit friends and hold a mini rally. It was most beautiful and patriotic!!! Of course, the failed, useless, "Chris Wallace" "Dark side" Fox News Channel (Fox & Friends) made no mention of this grand meeting whatsoever, this morning!!! Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends now joins the low life, "Fake News" Media cabal!! SAD!!!

President Trump’s campaign swing through New England included a stop at a Maine orchard, where he signed pumpkins and hats for supporters on Sunday afternoon. “That’ll be on eBay tonight,” Trump joked to the crowd at Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant after signing one of the pumpkins.

Trump just stopped airforce one for a special and toured a pumpkin farm and signed Pumpkins for kids. lol Anyone have any idea where? It is amazing that in this busy schedule he has time to do this little side tour to Pumpkin small town U.S.A. :)

The supermarket chain has now issued a full product recall.A man has been arrested after he was reportedly caught putting razor blades into pizza dough that was then sold to customers, according to the Saco Police Department in Maine. The incident occurred on Oct. 6 when the Saco Hannaford Supermarket, located in Saco, Maine, near to both Kennebunkport and Portland, notified the Saco Police Department regarding a suspected food tampering incident. The customer had reportedly purchased a Portland Pizza Pie Dough and then later found an undisclosed number of razor blades inside the product, according to a statement by the...

PITTSFIELD (WGME) -- Senator Susan Collins says she will vote against Judge Amy Coney-Barrett being elected to the Supreme Court. Sen. Collins releases statement on Supreme Court Vacancy "It's not a comment on her,” Collins said. “It is a comment on the process of rushing through a nomination in such a short time before a presidential election." Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski also said she will be a no vote for the same reason. To block the confirmation, two more senators would have to vote against Coney-Barrett, but Republicans have said they have the votes.

From a commentator (Boog) at The Hedgehog Report, a site that looks at polls: Take a look at this electoral map: Trump has a floor of 259 EVs. ... ... What the map shows is that Trump only needs one of WI, MN, PA or MI. He could even win by plucking VA (which is admittedly unlikely), or by taking some mix of NH, ME-2 and NV. On the other hand, Biden has to SWEEP almost all of the remaining states. ... Trump is a candidate who the pollsters are finding it increasingly difficult to poll, and that is why...

A poll released Tuesday found Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Democrat challenger Sara Gideon within one point of each other in the race for U.S. Senate in Maine. The poll, conducted by Bangor Daily News and Digital Research Insights from September 25 through October 4, showed Gideon with 44 percent support and Collins with 43 percent support, well within the poll’s 4.4 percent margin of error. The latest results point to a potential rebound for Collins, who is seeking her fifth term in the Senate but had been, up until now, trailing Gideon in recent public polls by four to...