A version of this article was originally published in The Daily Brief, our Maine politics newsletter. Sign up here for daily news and insight from politics editor Michael Shepherd.
The head of a Maine police group hit the campaign of former Rep. Bruce Poliquin for “insulting” members after it endorsed Rep. Jared Golden in the major race in the 2nd District.
Essential background: In a move first publicized on Friday, the 850-member Maine Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police split their 2022 endorsements between former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, and Golden, a Democrat who opposed his party’s signature policing overhaul and co-sponsored a “Defund Cities that Defund the Police Act.”
Former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, the Republican running a rematch against Golden in a race that also includes independent Tiffany Bond, released a Friday statement the group “had the wool pulled over their eyes.” He and other Republicans have noted Golden’s support both from liberal groups that have backed the “defund the police” movement that emerged from protests of police killings of Black men, including George Floyd in Minneapolis, in 2020.
The key quotes: Brent Littlefield, a strategist for both LePage and Poliquin, spun the situation to WVOM on Tuesday by saying while the LePage endorsement was about the candidate’s record, he did not think Golden’s record “carried the day” on the other endorsement. He intimated that a relationship between the group and one of Golden’s strategists was a factor.
Neither comment pleased the police group. Michael Edes, the executive director of the 850-member group, said Tuesday told Littlefield’s claims were “BS” and that rank-and-file members made their decision on Golden’s attentiveness to their issues, hitting Poliquin’s camp for “arrogance” in assuming he would win the group’s backing.
“They’ve come out twice now and insulted the membership and to me, it just shows we made the right decision,” Edes said.
Why it matters: Since the 2020 campaign, Republicans have tried to link Democratic candidates who have said they do not support defunding police to that progressive movement because of associations with liberal groups that have. It happened during the 2020 campaign between Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Sara Gideon.
Collins won the endorsement of the police order, which typically supports Democrats. Its support of Golden is an example of crossover support that should help shield the incumbent better from these kinds of attacks going into the heat of a difficult campaign. FiveThirtyEight deems the race a toss-up, while the Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ national election results partner, thinks Poliquin is favored to win.
Collins won the endorsement of the police order, which typically supports Democrats. Its support of Golden is an example of crossover support that should help shield the incumbent better from these kinds of attacks going into the heat of a difficult campaign.
FiveThirtyEight deems the race a toss-up, while the Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ national election results partner, thinks Poliquin is favored to win.