What They're Saying: "The GOP might be able to flip one or both chambers"
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Mainers head to the polls tomorrow to vote in primary elections, the Democrats who control the Maine Legislature are on their heels. From voting to hike costs on everything from gas, to home heating oil, to health care, to even pet food, they’ve spent their time in Augusta mimicking Joe Biden's failed liberal agenda instead of providing solutions for their constituents who are burdened by record high inflation. This toxic voting record, combined with President Biden’s miserable poll numbers and the overall dysfunction plaguing the Democratic Party in the state, has political observers noting this could be a big year for Republicans at the state level. Here is just some of what they are saying:
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Crystal Ball: “The Democrats currently control both chambers, but the GOP might be able to flip one or both chambers, driven by Republican turnout to support LePage’s comeback bid. The openness to ticket-splitting, both in New England generally and Maine specifically, could produce a flipped legislative chamber or 2 even with a Mills victory. Of the 2 chambers, the likelier to flip control might be the Senate. But both are vulnerable.”
FiveThirtyEight: “With Democrats currently in control of both chambers, this will be a top GOP pickup target in 2022.”
CNS Analysis: “Maine, where the State House is rated as a Toss-Up in our forecast”
Bangor Daily News: “The Democratic-controlled Maine Legislature could be among the most competitive battlegrounds in the U.S. this November, according to two forecasts.”
Bangor Daily News: “But it could provide an edge to Republicans in a year when the national environment may already favor them in a midterm year for President Joe Biden, a Democrat whose approval rating has floundered for months. Republicans successfully flipped both legislative chambers and seized the governor’s office in 2010 amid a national Republican wave.”
Portland Press Herald: “That message is not sitting well with some current and former officials of the Maine Democratic Party ahead of what is expected to be a difficult midterm election year for the party at the federal and state level.”
Bangor Daily News: “If there is one issue that is particularly dangerous for Democrats leading Augusta and Washington ahead of the November election, it is economic strife.”
Bangor Daily News: “The survey of roughly 600 registered Maine voters, which was conducted between March 14 and April 7 and released by Portland-based Digital Research Inc. on Monday, mirrors Democrats’ problems nationwide under President Joe Biden, showing a Maine electorate nearly as worried about the state of the economy as it was at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.”
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