Independent Danielle VanHelsing said the incumbent Republican, Susan Collins, is “a terrible senator” who doesn’t put the needs of Mainers first.
Steve Collins
Columnist
Steve Collins became an opinion columnist for the Maine Trust for Local News in April of 2025. A journalist since 1987, Steve has worked for daily newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Maine and served as the State House reporter for the Sun Journal since 2016. The Maine Press Association named him Maine's Journalist of the Year in 2022. Among his other awards are the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2016 Ethics in Journalism Award, the I.F. Stone Whistle-Blower Award in 2015 and the Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award from the New England Newspaper & Press Association. Steve is a founder and board president of Youth Journalism International, a charity that teaches students around the globe about news writing, media literacy and issues of the day. His wife, Jackie Majerus, serves as its executive director. Born in Massachusetts, he grew up in a military family that took him to Norway, Ohio and Virginia, where he earned a degree in history from the University of Virginia. He and Jackie live in Auburn. They have two adult children, two collies and not enough time.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World
Trump threats to quit NATO spur Maine lawmakers to defend 70-year-old alliance
Collins, a Maine Republican, is part of a bipartisan group that introduced a resolution this month to prohibit a president from withdrawing from NATO without first securing approval from the Senate.
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Posted inLocal & State
Here’s some awesome firsts that made their mark first in Maine
The state’s do-it-yourself spirit has led to many innovations over the years, from earmuffs to doughnut holes and maybe even a universal snub.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Poliquin leaves campaign coffers empty to repay a $100K loan to himself
It’s a fairly common practice among politicians with enough personal wealth to finance some or all of their campaigns.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
New Gloucester lawmaker seeks to ban ‘obscene’ material from public schools
She has support for her bill from Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Benton, and Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake. Her measure will likely be considered by the Legislature’s Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Jared Golden calls for bipartisan talks with Donald Trump to resolve shutdown
Golden, a Democrat, said that instead of three-way talks among Trump and two Democrats — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer —the top congressional Republicans ought to be in the room negotiating as well.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Republicans may seek to overturn ranked-choice voting
“We must go after this bad precedent,” former Gov. Paul LePage wrote recently to members of the Republican state committee.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Jared Golden takes his seat in U.S. House of Representatives
The Democratic freshman ousted Republican Bruce Poliquin in a tight race decided by ranked-choice voting.
Posted inLocal & State
Jared Golden getting ready to take office next week in Washington
They won’t give Maine’s next congressman the keys to his office until Wednesday, but his new digs in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill are ready. They’re a little sparse, though. Pictures of the still-vacant office taken this week show only empty shelves, gleaming desktops and computers showing only screen savers. One stands […]