Greetings all. Just finished up a conversation with Devon Murphy-Anderson, and am excited to bring it to you now. A video recording and rough transcript are above.
Before getting into the interview I want to make it clear that I still believe we can beat Susan Collins this November. The NYT poll of Maine released two weeks ago had our candidate for Governor, Hannah Pingree, up 15 points, and the generic ballot 53%-42% (+11) in our favor. So while Susan Collins has been resilient this is a very tough climate for her; her approval in the state is the lowest it’s ever been; and she has taken many, many bad, indefensible votes, including the one that lead to the ending of Roe vs. Wade.
I love this discussion with Devon for it provides a powerful window into what state Democratic Parties do, and what investments like the ones we’ve made in Maine this cycle can bring. This community has raised almost $180,000 for the Maine Democratic Party over the past year, including $55,000 in the past few days. As Devon explains those early investments we made have played a major role in helping the Party successfully navigate the extraordinary process they are now leading:
I can say definitively, Simon, that if we had not run those two off year programs, one on defense to defeat the absentee voting referendum to ensure that we protected voting rights here, and on offense, ensuring that we invested in down ballot races, I can say definitively if we did not run those two programs, we would not be able to pull this off right now. We just would not. We have a team that has been through the ringer. We have a team who’s worked these types of hours already. We have a team who knows what it means. That knows the stakes of having Mainers rely on them in this process. There is no substitute for that. That investment in those off-year programs prepared us for this moment, prepared us for the spotlight, and prepared us to be able to take this on in a way where we’re actually able to operationalize things.
Yes building strong state parties matters everyone!!!!!!
It’s what we are seeing every day as Devon, Chair Charlie Dingman, and the rest of the MDP team do really hard and important things when our democracy is on the line.
I also want to thank every one in this ass-kicking community who has given to the Maine Dems cycle. This has been some of our most important work together these past two years.
You can donate to this strong and courageous state party by heading here. As you will hear they still have money to raise to cover the costs of this challenging process, and while we’ve already dug deep there is more to do. Can we hit $75,000 for Devon and the Maine Dems in the next few days?
Devon also updates us on the nominating process itself - county Conventions in sixteen counties this weekend to pick delegates to the State Nominating Convention which will be held on Saturday, July 25th. Here’s Devon, from our conversation:
“Mainers can go to mainedems.org/senate-race, and they can sign up to pre-register as a delegate. They can also sign up to get verified to be a voter to vote for delegates who will go to the nominating convention itself….. all 16 counties are hosting some type of a meeting where folks can register to vote for delegates.”
And she says the response to the process has been remarkable:
”The response has been overwhelming, Simon. I mean, I think we’re in a really tough position. And our goal right now is to deliver a process that works and that works viably with legal counsel. So there’s the operationalizing of something that’s massive, and there’s the legal part of it. So those have been the two main factors, with [the people of Maine] being at the center of this, so that we can deliver something for them to get involved.”
I encourage all Hopium community members who live in Maine to become part of this process. Sign up to run for delegate. Be sure you attend your County Convention this weekend to pick the delegates for the State Convention. Step up and become part of this historic process!
Finally we talk briefly about the tragic news of the ICE shooting in Biddeford, Maine this morning. As Devon explains Susan Collins’ strong support of expanding ICE without any reform is another way she has let the people of Maine down.
Enjoy this conversation with a true rising star in our party, share it with others, consider giving to the Maine Dems today and keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections to win - including this one in Maine - together! - Simon
