Thirteen Democrats filed declarations of intent to seek the Maine Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination by the party’s July 15 deadline, according to a candidate guide the party published on its website.
They are Shenna Bellows, David Costello, Elizabeth Cote, Elizabeth Dickerson, Troy Jackson, Dan Kleban, Joseph Leveille, Kristina Libby, Paige Loud, Saundra Pelletier, Nirav Shah, Ashley Webb, and Jordan Wood.
The winner will face Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in November. The field is competing to replace Graham Platner, who won the June 9 Democratic primary with more than 70 percent of the vote over current Gov. Janet Mills but withdrew from the race on July 10 following a sexual assault allegation that he has denied. Mills suspended campaigning earlier this year citing a lack of funds.
Nine of the candidates were invited to a debate hosted by News Center Maine on July 16, covering everyone who had filed a declaration of intent with the party chair by the close of business on July 14. The station said it will split the debate into two hours.
The four candidates who appeared on the June 9 primary ballot and took more than 20 percent of the vote—Bellows, Jackson, Shah, and Wood—will debate from 7 to 8 p.m. The five who either did not run in June or finished below that threshold—Costello, Dickerson, Kleban, Loud, and Webb—will debate from 8 to 9 p.m. Candidates who filed with the party but missed the station’s earlier cutoff were not invited, the station said.
CNN and the Bangor Daily News announced on July 16 that they will host a second debate at 8 p.m. on July 23, two days before the nominating convention.
Under candidate qualification rules the party published for the convention, each candidate must next submit at least 500 valid signatures by 11:59 p.m. July 20, including at least 50 signatures from no fewer than eight of Maine’s 16 counties.
Candidates may submit up to 1,000 signatures, and the party said it will stop verifying once a candidate reaches 500. The rules state that the party “retains sole discretion to verify all submitted signatures” and that “third party challenges to the signatures of any candidate will not be accepted.”
Each declaration required a statement of no more than 150 words affirming the candidate’s intention to seek the nomination and a second statement of no more than 300 words describing how the campaign would “continue to support and build on the currently existing grassroots energy and movement in Maine,” according to the rules.
All 16 counties will hold delegate nominating meetings on July 18 and 19. The nominating convention is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 25 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, where 601 delegates will select the nominee. The party said 101 of those delegates are members of the Democratic State Committee and the remaining 500 are apportioned to counties based on 2024 Democratic primary turnout.
Under state law, the party must file its nominee with the Maine secretary of state by 5 p.m. on July 27.
The party’s website described the circumstances as “unprecedented,” saying it built the process to “provide broad participation by Maine Democrats while proceeding on a timeline that allows the Party to meet the statutory filing deadline.”
Candidates may withdraw at any point before or during the convention by notifying the party chair in writing, the rules state.
