Susan Collins signs petition being circulated to put a referendum on the Maine ballot in 2026 barring trans students from school bathrooms and sports teams of the gender they identify with.

Tune in to @cbssundaymorning.bsky.social tomorrow to catch the @midcoastvillager.bsky.social newspaper and cafe in their pre-Thanksgiving food issue!

I once asked Tom Steyer why he wasn’t on a beach in Fiji sipping Mai Thais, like I would if I had a billion dollars. “If I were in Fiji sipping a Mai Tai, I would be despondent.” OK, not a beach guy. What about chilling on his gorgeous 1,800-acre cattle ranch?

A local brewery had invited @SenatorCollins @JanetMillsforME and @grahamformaine to a drinking contest. Please please make this happen! Democracy demands it.

Pleasure chatting with @aidanryan.bsky.social about leaving national politics for local news in Maine and getting sucked right back into the campaign drama. Great questions about the dynamics between local and national news. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/11/b...

I picked a hell of a year to move to Maine to retire from national politics.

BREAKING: Rep. Jared Golden announces he won't seek reelection: "I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning." www.midcoastvillager.com/voices/opini...

BREAKING: Former Maine college student wins New York City mayoral race.

Took my daughter to vote with me before school, which was convenient because the whole town votes in her school’s gym.

This is better than fine.

I've long been a fan of @michellegoldberg.bsky.social but especially appreciate her candidness about the evolution of her thinking on Graham Platner after coming to Maine and seeing what's happening on the ground. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...

A Bowdoin grad is about to maybe become the next mayor of New York, but you wouldn't know it from the college itself, which has made no mention of Zohran Mamdani's campaign on its website, frustrating some alumni. As one quipped, the NYT wrote about Mamdani’s ties to Bowdoin before Bowdoin did.

NEW: Graham Platner Soldiers On From my vantage on the ground here in Maine, rumors of Platner's demise have been greatly exaggerated. I've seen many campaigns implode in my 15 years covering national politics — none looked like this. www.midcoastvillager.com/news/politic...

Despite everything, this room is absolutely packed for Graham Platner in Damariscotta.

Good added context about the @midcoastvillager.bsky.social here that didn't make it into the NYT. We're building on a rich history of small-town news innovation here -- and have plenty of Village Soup momentoes around the office.

New at Media Nation: The New York Times discovers Maine’s Midcoast Villager. Here’s the rest of the story. dankennedy.net/2025/10/27/t...

Me peepin’ leaves right now

This ME-Sen poll and this account are fake. No such poll on Emerson Polling's website or X feed. And take a close look at the account's handle: @PoliticPollss when the real one it's impersonating is @Politics_Polls.

Nothing but respect for MY ballroom! 🇺🇸 🫡

Unluckily or luckily for him, depending on how it goes, Platner’s event tonight happens to be in Ogunquit, which is just about the most accessible part of Maine to the outside world, between Boston and Portland, allowing for maximum media turnout compared to almost anywhere else.

Here's a counter-narrative datapoint: A 70-something reader in Rockland just emailed to cancel her subscription because we covered the Graham Platner controversy: "I no longer want to receive this newspaper... I'm disgusted."

Liked this Times feature on what @aseitzwald.bsky.social and co are up to in Maine? Be sure to listen to Alex on the latest Inside Elections — all about Maine politics! youtu.be/Lmfg9W3XoDQ?...

NEWS: Former ME-2 Dem Rep. Mike Michaud snubs Jared Golden, endorses his primary challenger. www.midcoastvillager.com/news/politic...

I love what Alex and co. are doing in Maine and I really hope it becomes sustainable, and -- unlikely as it may seem -- maybe even replicable elsewhere.

Great story on the Midcoast Villager, @aseitzwald.bsky.social-and-team's super cool effort to revive local journalism in Maine: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/s...

Some huge news for the @midcoastvillager: 1) We just won best weekly newspaper in the state from the Maine Press Association! 2) The NYT just ran a big feature on us and why we've managed to attract national talent! 3) We just set up the ability to accept tax-deductible donations!

This is big. She’s a longtime lobsterman and Maine fishing industry advocate, Maine as it gets, not some DC hired gun. “I cannot overlook the volume and nature of his past comments, many of which were made as an adult, not as a young man.”

The UAW just endorsed Graham Platner, the day after Gov. Janet Mills jumped into the race for Maine Senate.

Graham Platner, asked about Janet Mill's age by @jenpsaki.msnbc.com: "It's not about how old you are, it's about how old your ideas are."

Maine journalist (and former NBC News reporter) @aseitzwald.bsky.social and I had a 538-style conversation about the electoral strengths and weaknesses of Platner, Collins and Mills in what is shaping up to be the most interesting Senate race in the country. newrepublic.com/article/2017...

"The other big thing that Mills is contending with is the hangover from 2020, where the DSCC and Schumer came in heavy for Sara Gideon. She lost by 9 points and ended up being an easily mockable candidate," says @aseitzwald.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2017...

"Underestimate Susan Collins at your own risk. She's this tiny lady with a voice that sounds like it's going to give out at any minute. But people feel like they know her, Maine is like a big small town, so that goes a long way," says @aseitzwald.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2017...

On Platner's crowds, Maine journalist @aseitzwald.bsky.social says, "I talked to state senators and reps who’ve been around for a long time. They said that the closest they could think of is Bernie Sanders or Obama ...presidential level."

🚨🍻🦞 NEWS: Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban suspends his short-lived Senate campaign to endorse Janet Mills the day she announces.

NEWS: A Bush is running for governor again — this time in Maine. www.midcoastvillager.com/news/politic...

Just gonna take a nice big sip of coffee as I check on Bangor City Council elections. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/07/b...

J. K. Rowling? More like J.K. Trolling, amiright???

NEWS: Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap is officially taking on Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate Democrat likely to face Republican former Gov. Paul LePage next year. www.midcoastvillager.com/news/u-s-rep...

🌳 🚨 Jonathan Bush — cousin of W. and Jeb, nephew of H.W., brother of Billy — is going to make a "major announcement" next week after forming an exploratory committee for Maine Governor.

Memorizing this

Massive crowd for Graham Platner in Rockport, Maine at Flatbread (disclosure: my family’s favorite pizza place). This is the overflow…

Massachusetts is next up in the vexillological culture war and one look at the figure in the center of their current flag is probably all you need to know to guess the battle lines. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/15/m...

A Maine golfer who had never hit a hole-in-one over 40 years score two in a single day at a charity tournament — then won $500 on a scratcher after his friends convinced him to buy some lottery tickets. wgme.com/sports/conte...

What's it like to run a "scrappy little restaurant" in a small Maine town and wake up to the NYT naming you one of the 50 Best Restaurants in America? We scored the exclusive interview on this major breaking story. www.midcoastvillager.com/life/were-a-...

NEW: Maine Senate candidate Dan Kleban tells me he's a “get shit done Democrat” who's not interested in "performative politics." I asked if that's a dig at Graham Platner and he demurred — but suddenly we got a real Dem primary to take on Susan Collins. www.midcoastvillager.com/news/politic...

Loved talking to local filmmaker Ian Cheney about the Camden International Film Festival and his cool new production office/black-box theater/candy store, which happens to be directly across the street from the @midcoastvillager.bsky.social newsroom. www.midcoastvillager.com/life/village...

This week’s front page of the @midcoastvillager.bsky.social: An artist collective housed in an old elementary school has 20 days to raise $1.8 million.

Maine Beer Company co-owner Dan Kleban makes it official and joins the race to run against Sen. Susan Collins. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAmi...

I got to talk to Wilco bassist John Stirratt about the little music festival he hosts near his home in Midcoast Maine. www.midcoastvillager.com/life/a-big-m...

Graham Platner shucking his oysters before a speech on a farm in Belmont, Maine tonight.