Action 236: Recovering from Loss/Moving Forward

Background:  Our Democracy, encoded in the Constitution and the Rule of Law, is fighting for its life. And we know that means we are fighting for our own future. That’s why so many of us are grieving the exit of a great fighter on the side of Democracy: a charismatic, talented, educated, articulate champion of the ordinary citizen.  But the best way to honor what he stood for, and still stands for, is to redouble our efforts to achieve our common goal, the repudiation of the corrupt plutocracy and the reestablishment of the American promise.  Graham Platner was denied the opportunity to lead based on past bad behavior.  When will Donald Trump be denied his office based on his past, present, and future (far more consequential) bad behavior, enabled by Susan Collins?

Action Plan:

To select a replacement Senate candidate, the Maine Democratic Party has established a path forward that is organized and lawful. It is well described in this morning’s Press Herald: https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07/10/what-we-know-and-dont-know-so-far-about-the-maine-convention-to-replace-graham-platner  It’s also featured on the Maine Dems website

 https://mainedems.org/senate-race/  More details are here:  https://mainedems.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Maine-Democratic-Party-Call-to-Convention.docx.pdf  In a nutshell, the plan is this:

Attention Hancock County Democrats!!

Over the last several long days, the Maine Democratic Party has been working not only with Democratic State Committee reps but with county chairs and vice chairs up and down the state to come up with a plan to name a new candidate for Senate by July 27th. The goal has been to develop a process that is as transparent and inclusive as possible while working within this impossibly tight timeline and strict legal requirements. The MDP has given county committees an important role in this process. Here is the process for Hancock County:

Our regular HCDC monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth, 121 Bucksport Rd., beginning at 7pm, both in-person and with a Zoom option.  You must pre-register to Zoom by noon on Wednesday July 15.  Here is the pre-registration link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CnrULXO_Rd-r-o0J-HInHw#/registration We will dedicate the time to discussing the process and answering your questions. No voting will happen at this meeting.

We will be holding a Delegate Selection Meeting on the weekend of July 18-19 (details to come soon, watch the website  https://hancockdems.org). Anyone who was a registered Democrat in Hancock County as of June 9, 2026 is eligible to participate and vote for delegates to represent Hancock County at the statewide Nominating Convention.  Counties in Maine are allocated a third of the delegates that represented us this past May at the State Convention.  Hancock County is allowed 23 delegates and 5 alternates.  This meeting will feature conversations with all those who have “thrown their hat in the ring” to be considered as delegates.

If you are interested in running as a delegate

you must pre-register online by 5 PM on Wednesday July 15

https://secure.ngpvan.com/W2J4nqLiMkiYGcgRY16lEQ2

While it is not required for non-delegates to pre-register to attend, it will save a lot of time if you do.  This gives us time to check that you are indeed qualified to attend and vote.  Pre-register here:

https://secure.ngpvan.com/0CMatV8bNUuqRLwmhfiLYw2

 On Saturday, July 25 starting at 9AM at the Cross Insurance Center, Bangor. the state party will hold an in-person Nominating Convention.  Our delegates will join others across the state to vote on the next Democratic Candidate for Senate, who will appear on the ballot in November. Voting will be by rounds (basically like ranked-choice).  Only the 601delegates, duly elected at statewide at the county Delegate Selection Meetings, will be allowed to attend

It wasn’t easy to create a path to meet the statutory deadline of July 27, while jumping through the legal hoops.  Opponents of our candidate most likely timed their revelations to make it difficult for us.  But we will show them! We are more than able to deal with this adversity.  Working together with good will, tolerance and fairness, we will come up with a candidate who will vigorously carry on the momentum to defeat Susan Collins. 

Take heart, we shall overcome.