The Senate Race: what’s at stake?
Election season is quickly approaching-- and Maine voters have more than just the presidential election at stake. Sara Gideon (D), Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, is running against incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R), who has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997.
While Gideon certainly has passion behind her campaign, raising over $1 million in its first week, it is unclear whether that energy will be able to unseat Sen. Collins’ 23 years of experience.
Ellie Batchelder `23, currently on leave from the College, is serving as an intern in the research department of Gideon’s campaign.
“Right now, there’s a huge focus on the presidential election. We all know that there’s so much at stake with that election this November- but what might not be so obvious with a Senate race is how much power the Republican Party will hold if we can’t flip the Senate this year,” Batchelder said in an interview with the Echo. “If Sara Gideon can beat Susan Collins this election, then there’s so much potential for Democrats to pass legislation that could protect vulnerable groups. There’s so much at stake here.”
In order to flip the Senate to a Democratic majority, the Democratic Party needs to secure a net gain of 4 seats- making the Maine Senate Race a critical election. With a Senate majority, the Democratic Party could pass much of the legislation that has long been blocked by the current Republican majority regarding divisive issues such as climate change, healthcare, immigration, and COVID-19 relief packages.
In light of the continuing pandemic, Gideon has been pushing particularly hard on Collin’s healthcare policies. While Collins acknowledges that healthcare in the United States needs to be reformed, many Maine voters have become disillusioned with such claims in the face of her repeated votes against expanding Medicare and her lack of action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re in the middle of a public health crisis, and Senator Collins and her party have done absolutely nothing to fix that,” Rachel Powers `22J, who currently works with ColbyVotes, said in an interview with the Echo. “Putting in the effort to elect a representative who will change the cost of healthcare, who will make healthcare more accessible, who will support legislation that makes healthcare accessible is huge.”
According to Gideon’s campaign website, Gideon hopes to expand affordable healthcare and Medicare to all who need it as well as cracking down on pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of drugs. Gideon also championed COVID-19 relief legislation, working with her colleagues to pass an emergency legislation bill that extended unemployment and created a supplemental budget of $73 million for COVID-19 relief.
“Even though I’ve been working remotely because of [COVID-19], I really feel like I’m contributing to a greater cause while working [on Gideon’s campaign],” Batchelder said. “This election is something bigger than us.”
Indeed, regardless of party affiliation, this election is crucial to all Maine voters, something Powers has emphasized in her work with ColbyVotes.
“Registering to vote in this election is so important,” Powers said. “Voting has so much more power than people realize. Voter registration lists are used to pick jurors in our federal courts. They’re used in many different ways beyond the actual process of voting, so yes, vote because you want representation, but also because if you want to be represented in any of our institutions in the United States, you need to be a registered voter.”
Batchelder seconded Powers’s statement.
“It’s important to recognize the flaws in our system, the ones that don’t give some people the right to vote, that suppress people’s right to vote, so I think it’s so important if you have that right to exercise it,” Batchelder explained. “Specifically, among young people, turnout has historically been so low, so the youth really has an opportunity to make a change here.”
Of course, there is some controversy around a specific group of young voters- college students. Out of state, Colby students have frequently faced criticism for registering to vote in Waterville despite not being from Maine.
Considering that Colby students lean significantly Democratic in their voting patterns, concerns have been raised that they unduly dilute the votes of non-Democrat Waterville residents despite only living on Mayflower Hill nine months out of the year. Colby students- and other Maine college students- have the ability to sway an election.
Chris Rodiger `22, a Massachusetts native, registered to vote in Maine, perhaps best summed up Colby students’ decision to vote.
“I think everyone should vote, and that’s about it,” Rodiger said in an interview with The Colby Echo. “We’re at a critical point where we either choose to save our planet and our country or not.”
~Sarah Warner `21
