Outside of a busy bakery in Portland on Friday morning, a stream of Mainers signed and posed for pictures with a giant Foamcore check to Senator Susan Collins for $0.02, “our two cents.” Under the memo, some wrote “Climate action now!” or “Hold a town hall!” or simply “Bye, Felicia!”
The check, brought by the progressive 16 Counties Coalition, which has been running ads highlighting Collins’ senate votes and inviting her to town halls, was a visual display of what they say many constituents feel is necessary to get the ear of Maine’s senior senator.
“It seems like Senator Collins is only listening to the special interests who write her big checks for thousands of dollars,” 16 Counties communications director Chris Glynn, a former spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party and Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, said in a statement.
Falmouth resident Chris Carter stopped to sign the check. She said she has friends in other states who, after Collins’ decisive votes for the GOP tax cuts and the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, are invested in helping progressive Mainers organize to defeat Collins in 2020.
“I have a friend who lives in Seattle. He wants to come here when the campaign gets rolling to volunteer. I mean, that’s how much people are activated,” Carter said. “I think it’s crazy that she hasn’t held her own public forum in, I don’t know how many years. If you can’t talk to Mainers, how are you strong enough to be our senator?”
‘It does terrify me because my body is on debate all the time’
Ollie McGowan, 21, is a trans rights activist and student at the Maine College of Art. He helped organize rallies in Portland this year in reaction to the Trump administration’s assault on transgender people, including the military ban and cases before a conservative U.S. Supreme Court which could limit protections for LGBTQ+ people under the federal civil rights law.
He says Maine’s queer and trans communities cannot ignore this Senate race.
“It does terrify me because my body is on debate all the time,” McGowan said. “Collins has ignored certain things that are really important to me, and that are detrimental to my community at large.”
Portland resident Patricia Washburn, a trade magazine writer who has a disability, said she was a one-time supporter of Collins, but now wants to see her seat go to someone with an economic justice agenda.
Washburn was featured in a TV ad run by 16 Counties.
“I talked [in the ad] about how she had taken money from corporate special interests and voted to give them a $100-billion tax break,” Washburn said. “Working people didn’t get that kind of break. I’m a person with a disability. I’m very fortunate that I’m able to work and support myself.”
She continued, “It’s very important to me that working people be recognized and supported. I don’t think that’s what’s happening now. I see way too many of my younger friends, unable to afford an apartment, working three jobs to get by. Those are problems that I’d like to see our senator working on.”
The “big check” will travel the state, according to Glynn, giving Mainers a chance to sign and express their views on the issues.
(Top photo: A “big check” created by the 16 Counties Coalition. | Dan Neumann)
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