FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Jeff Clements, American Promise President, (617) 281-5350, jeffc@americanpromise.net
Amy Cartmell, Stand with Maine co-leader, (207) 522-6490, acartmell@kw.com
Jane Gallagher, Stand with Maine co-leader, (207) 653-6918, jgallag1@maine.rr.com

POLL RELEASED TODAY SHOWS STRONG CROSS-PARTISAN SUPPORT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON CAMPAIGN SPENDING AMONG LIKELY MAINE VOTERS FOR THE U.S. SENATE RACE BETWEEN SUSAN COLLINS AND SARA GIDEON

Sept 10, 2020 — On the eve of the first debate in a hotly contested U.S. Senate race, polling released today shows a large bipartisan majority of likely Maine voters supports a proposed Constitutional amendment to enact limits on campaign financing by corporations, unions, wealthy individuals and outside money.

The survey polled a representative sample of 600 likely Maine voters, and found 72.64% support such an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Among likely voters, the poll found, 54.7% of Republicans, 86.9% of Democrats and 61.8% of Independent voters are in favor, with 62% of undecided voters for the U.S. Senate race between Senator Susan Collins and Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon in support of the proposed amendment.

Details on the poll, which came from Citizen Data, can be found here.

David Trahan, Executive Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said he supports the proposed Constitutional amendment, and says the poll confirms what he sees in Maine.

“Mainers are sick and tired of the huge-donor, out-of-state money flooding our elections with misleading, ugly noise,” Trahan said. “We Republicans and all Mainers must stand together for a Constitutional amendment so we can have some reasonable limits on this kind of out-of-control spending in our elections. All Mainers deserve a voice and representation in the process.”

The Maine legislature, with support from Republicans, Democrats and Independents, enacted a resolution in 2013 calling for this kind of Constitutional amendment. The effort also is supported by other Maine leaders, including Senator Angus King, former Democratic Congressman Tom Allen and former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican. Both Snowe and Allen have joined in supporting the national cross-partisan organization, American Promise, which commissioned the poll released today and supports citizen efforts to move the amendment forward around the country.

In Maine, 1,500 people have recently joined the local grassroots initiative Stand With Maine. Its volunteers have asked Collins and Gideon to address the proposed amendment in their televised debate tomorrow night.

One of Stand with Maine’s volunteer leaders, Jane Gallagher, said, “Money in politics matters to me because it impacts just about every issue that I care deeply about, and that seems to be true for most people I know in Maine. We invite everyone who’s interested to join our local Maine American Promise chapter and to sign the Stand With Maine petition at standwithmaine.org.”

Stand with Maine is a grassroots initiative of the Maine chapter of American Promise. American Promise is a national nonprofit organizing citizens across the nation to further a Constitutional amendment to reduce the influence of big money in politics and ensure an equal voice for every American.

Roger Katz, former Republican Mayor of Augusta and State Senator representing Maine’s 15th district, supports Stand with Maine. Katz said, “As the polling shows, Mainers are united in wanting a government that serves them, not outside special interests, and ready to support candidates who advance a Constitutional amendment to fulfill this promise.”

This strong bipartisan consensus is timely as the two key Maine candidates in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race, Susan Collins and Sara Gideon, head into a televised debate tomorrow night; 62% of undecided voters for the senate seat support the proposed amendment. Undecided voters self-identify as Republican (41.9%), Democrat (33.3%) and Independent (21.6%).

The widespread support for the amendment comes as Maine voters have watched as millions of dollars have poured into the high-profile Senate race, the vast majority of it from out of state with outside interests outspending Mainers 12-to-1.

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For more information, please contact:

Jeff Clements, American Promise President; (617) 281-5350, jeffc@americanpromise.net
Amy Cartmell, Stand with Maine co-leader, (207) 522-6490, acartmell@kw.com
Jane Gallagher, Stand with Maine co-leader, (207) 653-6918, jgallag1@maine.rr.com