New Maine poll shows Trump closing in on Clinton

Daily Brief, Elections, U.S. Congress
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Good morning from Augusta, where there are more candidates than you think vying for victories on Election Day, though none of them will win.

We took a bit of criticism yesterday for our “Everything Mainers need to know before they vote” article because we didn’t list registered write-in candidates.

“You do your readers — and democracy — a disservice by not at least including their names,” wrote one reader.

I’m on the fence about this. All it takes to be a registered write-in candidate in Maine is to mail in a form. You can even make up your own political party. I think I’ll run for president in 2020 on the “Media Conspiracy Party” ticket.

Seriously, though, our election laws allow for write-in candidates and the BDN is in the business of providing information that’s as complete as possible. In that spirit, here are the names of write-in candidates in presidential, congressional and legislative races. This may be the last time you’ll see these names published by the BDN, so take notes.

President:

  • Darrell L. Castle, Constitution Party
  • Cherunda Fox, no party affiliation
  • Laurence Kitlikoff, It’s Our Children party
  • David Evan McMullin, Courage, Character, Service party

Representative, 1st Congressional District:

  • James Bouchard, Libertarian

Representative, 2nd Congressional District

  • Jay Parker Dresser, independent

State Senate, District 8 (Penobscot County)

  • Michael Aiguier, Democrat

House of Representatives, District 69 (Bridgton)

  • William Peters, independent

Now you know. — Christopher Cousins

New poll puts Clinton up 4 points in Maine

A new Emerson College poll released Wednesday found Democrat Hillary Clinton 4 points ahead of Republican Donald Trump in Maine.

The poll, conducted on Oct. 31, after the news that the FBI is investigating emails found on a laptop computer owned by a Clinton aide, indicates that the race in Maine has tightened. The same poll gave Clinton a 9-point lead on Sept. 7.

The poll found that Libertarian Gary Johnson’s support in Maine is eroding. He was at 12 percent support in September but at only 5 percent earlier this week. Green Party candidate Jill Stein registered just 1 percent support in the 750-person survey.

Check out the full results by clicking here. –– Christopher Cousins

Quick hits

  • Cain returns donations: Democrat Emily Cain, who is vying to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, has returned a $1,500 campaign donation from the Thornton Law Firm in Boston, according to the Kennebec Journal. The Boston Globe reported over the weekend that the firm violated campaign finance laws to funnel more than $1 million to Democrats nationwide. Cain, who has been under attack by Poliquin and his allies over the donation, reportedly returned the money as soon as she heard about the scandal.
  • Polling place error: As you read above, the BDN published an election primer for Mainers on Wednesday that among other things provided a link to a state website that will tell you where to vote if you put in your address. A reader from Orono reported the website directed her to the incorrect polling location, not the Field House at the University of Maine, which is the only polling location for Orono this year. The secretary of state’s office said this morning it has corrected the error and is working with the state’s InforME program to ensure that the latest and most accurate list of polling locations is represented on the website. In the meantime, click here and choose “Statewide Voting Place List” if you want to be sure you’re seeing the most up-to-date information.
  • Celebrating voter registration: Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap will visit Bates College and Brunswick High School in the coming days to celebrate the state’s first-ever “Voter Reg Rumble,” which challenged colleges and high schools to host voter registration drives. The prize for the winners? Drumroll, please: A visit from Dunlap, who will be at Bates today and Brunswick High School on Monday.

Reading list

My greatest parental triumph

I try not to barrage you too much with stories about my kids but I need a little room for bragging here for reasons that will soon become clear. Besides, we all need a break from politics once in a while.

My boys were the Blues Brothers for Halloween. It’s hands down our favorite movie and I’ve often joked that it constitutes a strand in the Cousins family DNA.

We pieced their costumes together with multiple trips to Goodwill and during trick-or-treating, the older boy had a Bluetooth speaker hidden on him through which I played the Peter Gunn theme while they were walking. A few people who haven’t seen the movie looked a little worried when the boys said “We’re on a mission from God” and a couple people who thought they were Men in Black were amused when the older boy responded, “No ma’am, we’re musicians.”

The costumes were a big hit and for my wife and me. Piecing together original costumes made Halloween so much more fun than it would have been if we’d just plunked down the usual $30-$40 per kid on some cheap and tacky Halloween costume kit.

The final win came this morning, though, when I heard my 6-year-old in the other room singing “She Caught the Katy,” to himself. That’s your soundtrack.

I’m not sure as parents whether we’ll ever be able to top this triumph, even if they both go to ivy league colleges on full scholarships. — Christopher Cousins

 

Christopher Cousins

About Christopher Cousins

Christopher Cousins has worked as a journalist in Maine for more than 15 years and covered state government for numerous media organizations before joining the Bangor Daily News in 2009.