Your paper recently published a letter accusing Maine’s Republican lawmakers of keeping the Legislature out of work for the last seven months to fundraise (“Ads raise questions on Collins’ integrity,” Oct. 27). This is blatantly false, and as a state senator, I’d like the opportunity to respond.
Republicans have been calling for the Legislature to return to work to deal with COVID-related issues for a number of months now, but Speaker Sara Gideon, who is running for higher office, can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and work out a deal with her colleagues across the aisle.Instead, Gideon has focused solely on her campaign, repeatedly calling it her “top priority.”
Perhaps that’s how she’s managed to raise more money than any candidate in Maine history.Between the day she adjourned the Legislature (March 17) and Oct. 22, Gideon raised a jaw-dropping $54 million, with a daily fundraising average of nearly $250,000.
These figures clearly show whose priorities are out of wack.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
