It’s difficult when somebody doesn’t understand a thoughtful gift. 

That’s what immediately came to mind when I heard that Sen. Susan Collins had recruited Demi Kouzounas, the former Maine Republican Party chair, to run against Sen. Angus King. Perhaps Collins simply forgot to get Sen. King something for Christmas this year; deciding then to get him a weak opponent to make his practically inevitable re-election even easier.

There’s no reason anyone would really think that Kouzounas — or anyone else, for that matter — could mount a credible challenge to King. Kouzounas’s only significant experience as a candidate is an unsuccessful run for the Maine House; it’s quite a leap to go from there to mounting a statewide run.

In fact, we often see even successful, experienced state legislators who were in leadership spectacularly fail when they angle for a promotion; look at Sara Gideon and Libby Mitchell. Running a serious campaign for federal or statewide office is vastly different than running for the Maine Legislature — it’s like making the jump from college athletics to professional sports. That’s a big part of the reason that the last Maine governor who was elected directly out of the Legislature was Joe Brennan. 

It’s possible that Sen. Collins considered Kouzounas a viable candidate thanks to her own experience. After all, Collins’s only campaign experience before running for the Senate was a failed gubernatorial run. Still, she’d run a statewide campaign before, and had plenty of political experience apart from that, including working in Congress for Bill Cohen. That’s vastly more experience than Kouzounas has, who served as state party chair for five years.

Unsurprisingly, her failed legislative campaign didn’t serve her well in that role: Under Kouzounas’s leadership, Maine Republicans not only failed to make gains, they consistently lost ground at the state and federal level. Ultimately — and probably several years too late — she was ousted from the position after years of failure, replaced by former legislator Joel Stetkis last year. So, not only does Kouzounas have little political experience, that experience has been largely negative, leading one to wonder why anyone would consider her a quality candidate for any race, let alone the U.S. Senate. 

Another explanation for her candidacy is more plausible: That it’s simply good for the Maine Republican Party to have someone on the ballot against King, better than ignoring it completely.

That’s a stronger argument and more understandable; it’s unhealthy for any elected official to be re-elected unopposed. It’s exceedingly embarrassing, in any state in the country, for a sitting U.S. senator to be unopposed by either major party; indeed, it’s astonishing that it ever happens.

Even so, if Maine Republicans were looking for this sort of nominal candidate, it would have been better to find someone with a plausible future in electoral politics. This campaign could have given some up-and-coming local politician the chance to learn how to run a major campaign, make contacts nationally, and earn gratitude from party insiders for their willingness to serve. Unfortunately, no matter what her supporters might think, none of that applies to Kouzounas. After her unsuccessful tenure as party chair, it’s hard to imagine her getting elected to anything.  

Perhaps Maine Republicans actually did try to convince such a person to step up and challenge King — we may never know. If they didn’t even try, that’s a major disappointment, and says that the state party has forgotten how to do one of its core functions: candidate recruitment. If they tried, but were unsuccessful, it paints a dim picture for the future of the Maine Republicans. It could be that they simply don’t have any depth in their talent pool. It could be that none of the aspiring candidates were willing to make the sacrifice. Either way, it’s not a good sign; just as it isn’t when the party fails to field candidates for the Legislature. 

If Kouzounas is unlikely to ever get elected to anything, what’s the point of her candidacy? Well, her presence at least blocks someone more extreme or simply crazy from claiming the nomination, which would be an even bigger embarrassment than having nobody running at all. It also gives her the chance to burnish her credentials, perhaps claiming some minor appointed position if Trump wins. Distressingly, though, it more clearly shows what a sorry shape the Maine Republican Party is currently in — again, thanks in no small part to her tenure. 

jwfossel@gmail.com

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