ME-SEN: On campaign trail, Sara Gideon pairs progressive policy and bipartisan rhetoric
Gideon has been leftward of Gov. Janet Mills, a fellow Democrat, on issues from gun control to a carbon tax in Augusta. During her campaign, she has indicated openness to removing the Senate filibuster, a move that could pave the way for her party to pass a public-option health care plan she also backs if they wrest control of the chamber from Republicans.
The candidate has harnessed progressive fury against Collins after the senator’s 2018 vote for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh with record fundraising and a narrow lead in polling this year. Gideon does not shy away from discussing her legislative record, juxtaposing herself with Collins while using some Collins-like messaging around crossing the aisle.
She highlights a bill she sponsored letting more medical professionals perform abortions. She knocks Collins on her vote for a 2017 tax bill that could undo the Affordable Care Act, though the incumbent also opposed repealing the law that year. Gideon then points to her bill codifying many of those health care protections in state law. That was bipartisan; the abortion bill was not.
Gideon, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2012 from a safe Democratic district, emerged under LePage, a combative Republican. They presided in 2017 over the state’s first government shutdown in 26 years. The LePage era, however, was followed by a wave 2018 election sweeping Mills and strong Democratic majorities into control of Augusta.
https://bangordailynews.com/2020/09/07/politics/on-campaign-trail-sara-gideon-pairs-progressive-policy-and-bipartisan-rhetoric/
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