Democratic Women Lining Up To Take Out Maine's Susan Collins

The Cook Political Report rates Maine's US Senate seat (held currently by Susan Collins) as "lean Republican," which is not exactly granite but rather pretty shaky ground for Senator Collins.

Dynamic Democratic women candidates have already been lining up for a big state primary next June 9th for the privilege of taking on Collins in November of 2020. Collins has tried to maintain her "moderate" reputation while voting with Donald Trump 98% of the time. The last straw for many in her state was her mealy-mouthed support for Brett Kavanaugh.

Sara Gideon

Today, a third Democratic woman stepped forward ... Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Sara Gideon, the daughter of an Indian immigrant father and a second-generation Armenian American mother. She has served in the Maine House of Representatives since 2012 and rose fast to become Speaker of the House. She seems like a powerhouse politician.

Hayley Miller in HuffPost:

The 47-year-old mother of three has focused her legislative tenure on boosting the state’s economy, tackling the opioid crisis, investing in sustainable energy and increasing access to universal health care. 

In the last few weeks of Maine’s first regular legislative session of 2019, Gideon oversaw the passage of several progressive bills, including automatic voter registration and expanding abortion access for women across the state. 

Her anti-poverty legislation to address the state’s “benefits cliff” and provide training for adults to qualify for higher-paying jobs received unanimous support in the state’s House and Senate on Tuesday. The bill is awaiting Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ signature.

Betsy Sweet

Already in the race for the Senate seat (she beat Gideon to the punch by about a week) -- Democrat Betsy Sweet, who ran previously in 2018 for Maine governor but lost the Democratic primary to Janet Mills who went on to win the governorship.

Betsy Sweet has decades of political activism behind her. She founded Moose Ridge Associates in 1990, a major lobbying outfit for progressive causes in Maine.

A legislative advocate at the State House for thirty years, Sweet has developed and implemented strategy and legislation for many non-profit social service and environmental clients. She can list hundreds of pieces of successful legislation to her credit. She is also known around the statehouse as one of the most effective advocates and experts on the state budget and funding services for Maine people who need them.

Lawyer Bre Kidman was actually the first Democrat to declare her candidacy for Collins seat, in April, because she feared no other Democrat was going to announce -- "someone had to take on the task," she said. Kidman doesn't have the credentials, the political connections, or the experience of either Gideon or Sweet, so there's a chance she'll drop out now that two more credible Democratic candidates are in the race.

Collins looks weak, and she shot herself in the ankle with her vote for Brett Kavanaugh and her continued kowtowing to Donald Trump's agenda while mouthing "moderate" opinions and failing to follow through.