Maine Democrats will gather virtually and in person this weekend in Bangor for a party convention that’s taken on added importance following the leak of a potential Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“I think people are incredibly upset when they hear what the Supreme Court is contemplating,” said Drew Gattine, Maine Democratic Party chairman. “You’re going to be hearing from Democrats about that now through November.”
The leaked majority opinion, released last week by POLITICO, indicates that the court is considering overturning federal protections for abortions and returning the issue to the states. In Maine, women will continue to have access to abortions regardless of the Supreme Court ruling, but that could change if Republicans take over in November.
Now, Democrats control the Maine House, Senate and governor’s office. But voters in November will decide how to fill all 186 legislative seats and weigh whether to return Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, to office or choose former Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
Waldo County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Sara Salley said she’s looking forward to spending time at the convention with other like-minded Mainers. After a few years away, she re-engaged with politics following the election of President Donald Trump.
“That highlighted how precious and in some ways precarious democracy can be,” she said.
In addition to the potential that abortion rights will be overturned, Salley said challenges to election results, education and LGBTQ rights are cause for concern.
“The issues do seem in the past number of years to have become more fraught,” Salley said. “The partisan divides do become huge gulfs.”
At the GOP convention in late April, delegates amended the party platform to add provisions preventing teachers from “presenting sexually-based material of any kind to students” prior to grade 12. They also define “as child sexual abuse in public schools, the teaching or promotion of biological genders other than those of male and female homo sapiens.”
Gattine said the Democratic platform — which was crafted by about 80 party activists — doesn’t contain anything that should come as a surprise. The draft platform begins with a dedication to the police who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Today, our Democracy is under attack by enemies, foreign and domestic,” it states. “Fringe political factions offer false promises of a return to an idealized past while peddling lies and intolerance, pitting neighbor against neighbor.”
It expresses support for comprehensive health care, universal access to childcare, a Maine-based Equal Rights Amendment, recognition of Indigenous people, the right to form a workplace union and criminal justice reform.
It also urges “rapid deployment of green technologies” to combat climate change.
“Climate change is a clear and present threat to our society,” the platform reads. “Without bold action to stabilize climate, none of our visions for a better world will be achievable.”
The convention starts Friday and will feature workshops in the afternoon, including one that focuses on reproductive and LGBTQ rights. The platform will be on Friday’s agenda and the evening will be capped by a speech by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of the 2nd Congressional District.
In November, Golden will face the winner of the June Republican 2nd District primary between Caratunk Select Board member Liz Caruso and former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of the 1st District will speak. In November, Pingree will face Republican Ed Thelander. That afternoon, Mills will take the stage. At some point Saturday, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, will deliver a virtual address to the convention as the keynote speaker.
Schiff served as the House impeachment manager in 2020 during the first Senate trial of President Trump.
Overall, Gattine said the convention will ask Maine voters to think about how Democrats handled big issues in the last four years, including the expansion of MaineCare, increased teacher pay, pandemic safety, the environment and climate change.
“We think we have a really good story to tell,” he said. “We’re going to talk a lot about what it has meant in Maine to have Democrats in control.”