
Even among the politically informed, it can be difficult to follow the intricacies of politics at the local level. In local legislative elections (especially in presidential years), voters will oftentimes simply vote for the candidate who aligns with their party preference without knowing the candidate’s policy priorities, or even who they are. The following analysis is intended to help inform Mainers of the aggregate legislative priorities of the candidates running for the Maine Legislature.
Methodology
A candidate was considered to prioritize an issue if they mentioned the issue or policies affiliated with that issue on their publicly accessible websites. For example, a candidate saying “I care about the economy” with no further details would count as a campaign priority for the purposes of this analysis. Alternatively, a candidate saying “we need to decrease/increase regulations on businesses” would also qualify, even if the word “economy” was not explicitly stated.
The source used for this analysis was Ballotpedia, an American election encyclopedia. Using Ballotpedia, campaign websites were examined for Maine House of Representatives candidates and Maine State Senate candidates. If a candidate did not have a campaign website, social media pages directly affiliated with the candidate’s campaign were checked to determine policy priorities. For incumbent politicians, failure to operate a campaign website resulted in examination of their legislator profiles on legislature.maine.gov and their social media channels in search of issues for which they explicitly advocate. If this turned up no information, we relied on bills they directly sponsored in the 131st Legislature.
All readily identifiable issues that at least 2% of prospective candidates mentioned were counted and analyzed below. Independent candidates were counted in the aggregate analyses, but were excluded from any partisan analysis.
Results: Maine House
Table 1: Issues and Frequency for
Maine House Candidates

Figure 1: Issues and Frequency for Maine House Candidates

The top issues House candidates mention are education (29.29%), followed by the economy (23.57%), healthcare (20.36%), and taxes (20.07%).
On a partisan basis, 35.34% of Democratic House candidates cite education as an issue of importance compared to 24.44% of Republican candidates. Similar discrepancies exist in healthcare (30.83% vs. 9.63%). On the economy, 27.82% of Democrats mention the issue compared to 20% of Republicans. On taxes, 21.48% of Republicans prioritize the issue compared to 18.18% of Democrats.
Similar to the Senate, there is a substantial discrepancy between the parties on the issue of abortion (11.28% vs. 4.44%). However, there is a smaller discrepancy on the issues of guns (6.77% of Democrats versus 5.92% of Republicans).
Notably, approximately 31.67% of all prospective candidates do not have either a campaign website or official policy presence.
Results: Maine Senate
Table 2: Issues and Frequency for
Maine Senate Candidates

Figure 2: Issues and Frequency for
Maine Senate Candidates

Among all Senate candidates, education (51.43%), the economy (42.86%), and healthcare (34.29%) are the top priorities mentioned. For comparison, the top two Maine House issues, education and the economy, are mentioned by 29.29% and 23.57% of candidates, respectively, almost half in frequency.
Broken down by party, there is a significant difference. On the issue of education, 60.00% of Democratic Senate candidates prioritize it compared to 40.63% of Republican Senate candidates. Similarly, 51.43% of Democrats prioritize healthcare while only 18.75% of Republicans do. Regarding the environment, 34.29% of Democrats discuss the issue in campaign messaging compared to 15.63% of Republicans.
Lower priority issues feature an even more distinct partisan difference. It is not surprising, for example, that Democrats discussed abortion (11.43% versus 3.43%) far more frequently than Republicans, or that Republicans are far more likely to discuss the issue of guns (18.75% versus 5.71%) than Democrats.
Meanwhile, the economy is prioritized more equally, with 46.88% of Republicans and 40.00% of Democrats outlining the issue as a legislative priority. As are taxes, where 28.13% of Republicans and 25.71% of Democrats mention the issue.
Notably, on energy, Republicans candidates are far more likely to discuss the issue than Democrats (25.00% versus 8.57%). On housing, 14.29% of Democrats and 9.38% of Republicans mention the issue.
Conclusion
In a recent poll, 67% of Maine voters stated the cost of living as one of the most important issues facing the State, while 37% cited housing, and 28% of voters viewed both immigration and inflation as important issues facing Maine. Compared to this voter benchmark, politicians running for office this cycle are underrepresenting the issues voters are concerned about. Furthermore, about 10% of all candidates did not have any campaign website or official policy presence online.
Among both Maine House and Maine Senate candidates, education, the economy, and healthcare are the issues most frequently mentioned. However, the fourth most important issue was different for each legislative body, and so were other issues that were less prioritized. Perhaps the biggest conclusion is the sheer lack of detail and presence by political candidates in Maine, especially among House candidates.
It is also important to note that just because there is a shared focus on an issue does not mean there is a shared perspective or understanding of the issue. For example, on the economy, Republicans focused more on inflation and spending while Democrats talked more broadly about improving the economy as a whole. This was also the case with education, where Republicans and Democrats had vastly different perspectives on both problems and solutions.
Ultimately, this analysis found a substantial partisan divide on the importance of specific policy issues, providing perhaps some insight on the future legislative priorities of the Maine Legislature depending on which party wins power in November.
Connor Feeney, of South Portland, currently serves as a policy intern at Maine Policy. Connor is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Southern Maine studying political science and economics, and is expected to graduate in December 2024.