A Report From The Maine Democratic Party Convention
What I found was a Democratic Party ready to go do hard and important things this November
Morning all. I am back in DC after hanging out with Maine Democrats for a couple of days at their 2026 Convention. The Convention is taking place at a beautiful venue in an area of Portland known as Thompson Point.
Here I am with Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman:
And here’s a message to our community from the Executive Director of the Maine Democratic Party, Devon Murphy-Anderson:
Also sharing this interview we did with Chair Dingman last November right after Maine Dems - with this community’s support - defeated a terrible GOP ballot initiative that would have restricted voting this November:
Yesterday I spoke to a Convention break out session or 300 people or so. It was great to meet so many members of our community in person. If you have a photo of the event you’d like to share please send it to community@hopiumchronicles.com.
Overall I would say that the vibe I felt at the Convention was upbeat, positive, can-do. Maine Democrats are aware that they have an opportunity to have a very good year, potentially defeating Susan Collins, winning the governorship, growing their narrow majorities in the state legislature, and keeping a tough House seat, ME-02. The talks and training sessions were overflowing yesterday - people were ready to get to work!
My luncheon talk built on my Hopium talk from earlier this week - we entering a new era for the Democratic Party, one where we have to compete and win in hard, tough places in order to take power away from MAGA and forge a “new birth of freedom” here and everywhere:
I’ve come to believe that our national electoral map, and the “maps” (those people we were targeting and speaking too) in our states, have been too narrow. Trump and MAGA’s historic failure and betrayal have given us an opportunity to reach places and people that have been hard for us to reach; and we must now build a new politics for the Democratic Party that allows to successful reach these hard to reach places, win over voters that have not often heard from us, and build a new durable majority for our pro-democracy movement and the Democratic Party. Given the threat of MAGA to our democracy and to the American people themselves we have no choice now but to build something new and better, together.
For reference today Trump is at his lowest point of his second term in the FiftyPlusOne job approval tracker, hitting -23 for the first time.
While Maine has voted reliably Democratic at the Presidential level we have not won a Senate seat there since 1988. ME-02 is the most Republican district held by a Democrat in the country, and the current holder of that seat, Rep. Jared Golden is retiring, as is the current Democratic Governor, Janet Mills, who has been the most successful state wide elected Democrat in the last generation of Maine politics. So these Maine Dems have hard work ahead of them this cycle - unseating Susan Collins and winning our first Senate race since 1988; holding on to the toughest House district in the country and the governorship; growing narrow state legislative majorities; all while seeing the retirement of two of the most successful Democrats Maine has seen in many years.
The other hard work Maine Dems have ahead of them, and this is something I talked about at length yesterday, is that after a very competitive and tough primaries for Senate, Governor and ME-02, they will have to come together and rally around their nominees. This is going to be particularly true after a very rancorous Senate primary, which appears to be ending now with Governor Janet Mills’ exit from the race on Thursday. While there are two other Democrats in the Senate primary, Graham Platner appears on a path to win the Democratic nomination on June 9th, and become our nominee for US Senate.
What I asked of every Mainer in that room yesterday was to become a leader in the coming together of the party after the primaries. Whomever you support today do the hard work of bringing us together, as our opponents are going to be doing everything they possibly can - in this race, and every other race in the country - to keep us divided and focused on fighting with one another and not with them. Our primaries are ending, the general election has begun, and we must, at all costs, hang together in these coming or we will hang separately.
Maine has been one of the five states in our Audacious Expansion Fund that we launched last year to support state parties in hard to win reach states, to give us a chance to do hard things this year, including flip the Senate. Our fund has raised over $545,000 for these five states so far, and what is so remarkable is today our Senate candidates lead in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and are within mid-single digits in Florida. In the most recent poll in Maine, one conducted by a Republican firm, Platner leads Collins by 5 points and is over 50%:
For those who want to learn more about Graham Platner you may want to start with this powerful video his campaign has released:
That’s my initial report from Maine. It was great to see members of this proud, plucky community of patriots yesterday. It was good to be back in New England, which after all these years, still feels like home. It was encouraging to see the ambition, the drive, the can-do-let’s-go-win-this-thing of the Maine Democratic Party and the Mainers I met at the Convention. In this next six months we have a lot of very hard things we need to do, together. First among them is winning this Maine Senate seat, for there is no path for us to win back the Senate majority without beating Susan Collins. With our help the Maine Democratic Party feels up to the job and ready to go do what they need to do for our democracy and the good, hard-working people of Maine…….
Now, Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!
You can help Maine Democrats by donating to our Expansion Fund or by giving to the Maine Democratic Party directly. We will be making endorsements in the other Maine races after the primary on June 9th.
Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map
Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $21,100 towards our $50,000 goal!
We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $631,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!
If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.
James Talarico For Texas - $64,100 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue
Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $88,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue
Winning Ohio - $133,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde
This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $545,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds
Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $108,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $171,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff
Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon