By Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo
But two months ago, Weatherbee, who manages reservations at the New England Outdoor Center’s Woods and Water Shop in Millinocket, changed his party affiliation to Democrat. He switched so that he could vote for Lucas St. Clair, a candidate in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District primary whom Weatherbee sees as ready to revitalize the region.
“I don’t know if I’ll always stay a Democrat, but I vote for the person who I think is best representing me. I’m conflicted, is what I am. I am disgusted with every one of the people in Washington,” said Weatherbee. “I’ve not been happy with the Republican Party, as such, for some time. And then Lucas came along and I thought ‘I want to support him.’ I was kind of here anyway, rolling back and forth between the two” parties.
Weatherbee lives in Millinocket in Penobscot County, one of many “pivot counties” that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, and four years later, switched to Trump. As 2018 elections loom, towns like Millinocket, a former mill town struggling to reinvent itself, could determine the results.
The outcome may depend on whether Mainers choose to vote on local or national issues.
Maine has a tradition of strong municipal governance, which can be traced back to the hyperlocalism of New England’s colonists and Puritans, who did not trust centralized governmental power.
Of the 500 municipalities across Maine, many still operate through town meetings or other forms of direct governance. And in 1969, the state constitution’s “home rule” amendment allowed small municipalities to develop local laws with little state interference.
In November 2017, Maine even passed a set of “food sovereignty” laws, which allow residents to buy and sell local food without much state involvement. Under these laws, municipal law supersedes state law, and municipalities take responsibility for local food safety.
“Home rule is very strong. It’s part of what makes Maine kind of a classic swing state, especially the north district,” said Mindy Crandall, professor of Forest Landscape Management and Economics at University of Maine at Orono. “Because people are very focused locally, and so how they perceive things isn’t as tied to one overarching ideology.”
But despite its political ancestry, Maine is not immune to a rapidly nationalizing political climate.
Dan Shea, a political scientist and professor of government at Colby College, said that given the significance of group identity in northern Maine, voters may still be strongly tied to party affiliation, even when it conflicts with their local wishes. And the decline of local news may push Maine towns further toward polarizing national politics, he added.
“One of the problems is that people are paying too much attention to national news,” said Shea. “Because at the local level you’ve got to get along. You’ve got to meet them, you know them, they’re your neighbors. You find compromises; you sort of work it out. But national news is all yelling at each other, so if people are not paying as much attention at the local level, then you create” incivility.
With both national media and politics fixated on the Trump Administration, the 2nd District’s coming election may test the power of Maine’s local focus, After two terms, the Republican incumbent, Poliquin, will face one of three Democratic challengers: State Representative Jared Golden, Craig Olsen, and Lucas St. Clair.
St. Clair said it was crucial to avoid focusing on the national politics of the Trump administration when it comes to winning over voters.
“I know what we definitely can’t do this election cycle is hang Donald Trump over the incumbent Congressman’s neck and say, you know, ‘he’s bad, so you should vote for us,’” said St. Clair. “We have to talk about why we’re Democrats, what we want to do for people, how we want to make people’s lives better, and if we’re not doing that, why would they vote for us?”
Though he will have to galvanize enough support across the district to best front-runner Jared Golden, a state representative and Marine veteran, St. Clair may be banking on the strength of local concerns in the district. It was a quintessentially local issue that first put St. Clair on the map as a candidate: the designation of the Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument.
After his mother, Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby, bought the 87,000 acres, St. Clair joined the fight to have the land designated. He is also credited with soothing tensions among locals who balked at any restriction of outdoor recreation on the land. Because of the prominence of the National Monument issue, St. Clair is a natural favorite among Millinocket Democrats.
One advantage that local candidates have is access to voters through events and forums. Weatherbee said he first decided to switch his affiliation after seeing St. Clair speak at an event. He said he saw local politics as an arena where he might actually have influence.
“Local politics is where I see something happening that I might have my two cents in,” Weatherbee said. “I mean, I spoke to [St. Clair]. I don’t get to speak to Trump.”
Marsha Donahue, who owns North Light Gallery in Millinocket, was a lifelong Independent but switched to Democrat recently, in order to vote for St. Clair in the primary. She even hosted a rally for him at her gallery in March.
“It’s hard to go down to Washington and retain your integrity and commitment to your constituents without falling into other agendas,” said Donahue. “I think Lucas is really capable of doing this.”
At the same time, Poliquin has faced criticism for his lack of physical presence in the area. But Town Manager John Davis, a former mill worker and union leader, said that doesn’t change the way he feels.
“I don’t know if he’s ever been to Millinocket, but chances are he’ll get my vote,” said Davis, chuckling. “Because he’s got an R behind his name.”
National politics aside, in a town like Millinocket, the fight for renewal has forced residents with differing views to work together.
After the shuttering of Millinocket’s paper mill in 2008, the once prosperous town has grappled with a decline in population, local business, and tax revenue. From the struggle to keep the town library open to the recent prospect of a cross-laminated timber company taking over the mill site, it is hyper-local issues that could mean life or death for Millinocket.
INTERACTIVE: History of Millinocket
Jessica Masse, who runs Designlab, a graphic design and marketing firm, with her husband John Hafford, said getting things done locally required the ability to ignore national party and political differences.
“We sit on committees with people who have radically different politics than we do,” said Masse, adding that knowing residents personally helps them to focus on common interests. “We might not agree on some national issue, take your pick, but we can agree on issues that are important to all of us right here locally.”