Candidates for Maine’s 2nd District U.S. House seat differ widely on issues

For many voters in rural Maine, there’s no issue that matters more than health care. It’s the issue they search for most on Google and it’s the one that public officials hear about more than any other.

Each of the candidates for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District have their own thoughts on health care, though due to his incumbency and a high-profile vote he took in Congress, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin‘s views are the best-known.

Poliquin, a two-term Republican who is seeking re-election on Nov. 6, took office in 2014 vowing to repeal President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and replace it with a cheaper, better alternative that would rely on private insurance.

So far, that’s proven elusive.

One vote by Poliquin in the spring of 2017 in favor of repealing Obamacare has fired up Democrats ever since. He cast his lot with a House GOP plan opposed by Maine’s hospitals, physicians and patient advocacy groups who warned it would cost 100,000 Mainers their insurance and open the door for insurers to charge older people more money.

At the time, Poliquin said he hoped the U.S. Senate would come up with an improved version, but that never happened. Instead, senators voted down the House measure with the help of a few Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

All three of the people vying to replace Poliquin — Democrat Jared Golden and independents Tiffany Bond and Will Hoar — have criticized the incumbent for backing a health care plan they consider draconian.

Today, all four offer their agendas for health care improvements and ideas about how best to tackle a number of other issues, including the economy, taxes and guns. Other issues where the candidates differ include constituent access to their offices and who should lead the U.S. House.

HEALTH CARE

For Golden, a state representative from Lewiston, one answer on health care is to move toward a Medicare-for-all system by lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 55 and other measures to expand access for people who are struggling to pay for coverage.

Golden said that to lower long-term costs and improve care, “we must stop treating health like a private industry, and start treating health like a public good and a basic right for every American.”

In his first campaign advertisement back in August, Poliquin zinged Golden with the charge that the Democrat wants “to end Medicare as we know it,” though the Democrat wants to add more people to Medicare’s rolls without changing coverage.

Republicans have also touted a projected $32 trillion cost for universal coverage they say would push up the national debt and hike taxes — an assertion Democrats dispute.

Poliquin has been pushing since he got to Capitol Hill to revise America’s health care system to make it less federal and more state-based, and free market-oriented. Some of his ideas were included in the House bill the Senate shot down.

Collins said at the time that the House proposal that Poliquin supported “could actually make the situation worse” for many, criticizing its attempt to make sweeping changes to Medicaid and pointing out that the Congressional Budget Office estimated the number of uninsured Americans would rise by 23 million if Congress adopted the plan.

Hoar said he entered the race because he was so upset at Poliquin’s bid to repeal Obamacare, a program he said is essential for combating the opioid crisis that is devastating many Maine communities.

Hoar said the ACA is too costly and complicated. He said he wants more affordable coverage that will help Mainers who suffer work-related injuries.

Bond, a Portland lawyer, said she has “a passionate dislike for the ACA” and described as reprehensible its now-defunct mandate “to purchase for-profit, horrific coverage that covers not much of anything at all and that many, including me, cannot afford to use.”

But, she said, it should be replaced only if it can be improved. Doing so “will require collaboration, out-of-the-box thinking and hard work,” Bond said, probably through “a series of incremental steps and thousands of language fixes.”

“Leaving millions to flounder, decimating people with pre-existing conditions, and limiting options for those with addiction and mental health issues are not acceptable outcomes,” Bond said.

TAXES

Another issue that divides the 2nd District’s contenders is taxes.

Poliquin supported a nearly $2 trillion tax cut last December that permanently reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, reduced until 2025 individual tax rates and created a new break for pass-through businesses such as partnerships.

An analysis by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that a quarter of the savings will go to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. By 2027, it found, after the cuts for individuals expire, two-thirds of the savings will go to the richest 1 percent.

Poliquin called the tax cut “a huge boost to our hardworking families. Maine families will finally be able to keep more of the money that they work hard to earn.”

He said that “for decades, Washington has continued to add to a maze of loopholes and separate deductions that have advantaged the few while making the entire system more complex for ordinary taxpayers.”

“I am committed to simplify our tax system so ordinary Mainers and Americans — not just the wealthy and well-connected — can keep more of their own money,” Poliquin said.

Golden said Poliquin’s vote “reaffirmed his commitment to corporations, special interests and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans” while simultaneously adding $1 trillion to the national debt.

Golden said he would push for a more fair tax structure that helped ordinary Americans rather than the rich.

Hoar said he believes the tax system “needs to be adjusted for the reality of the world we live in” and vowed to work with both parties “to come up with a realistic, revised and simplified tax code.”

Bond said the tax measure adopted on a party-line vote by Poliquin and the GOP is “riddled with problems that advantage upper-income payers, while being punitive to those in transition and middle-class families.”

“The chaos of this bill is what happens when you create a tax code without building on a stable foundation and philosophy,” she said.

GUNS

Another divisive issue is guns.

Poliquin has a longstanding A rating from the National Rifle Association and the solid backing of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

On the opposite side is Bond, who carries the endorsement of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America for her opposition to easy access to firearms.

She said that if voters are “just fed up and wanting to toss your support to a thoroughly sensible candidate” on the gun issue, she’s the one they should support.

Golden, who carried arms during two combat tours as a U.S. Marine, has staked out a position between the two. The NRA gave him a D rating in part because he favors more thorough background checks for gun buyers.

But he stood against efforts this summer to pressure the Kittery Trading Post to stop selling assault-style rifles. Retailers in Maine, he said, “should be able to sell firearms to those who can legally possess them.”

Hoar’s position is unclear. He did not respond to a request for comment.

DISTRICT OFFICE DOORS

All three of Poliquin’s challengers have said they will open the doors on district offices that Poliquin has closed. His policy is for constituents to schedule appointments with his staff rather than having the option of walking in during business hours.

Maine’s two senators and its other member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, all have open-door policies.

“Only Bruce Poliquin locks the doors of his state offices,” Golden’s campaign said.

Poliquin’s staff has said many times that the way they handle constituents allows them to focus on problems more efficiently and to provide more assistance than they would otherwise have time for.

THE NEXT HOUSE SPEAKER

Another issue where the candidates differ is on who they would support as the next speaker of the House to replace the retiring Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican.

Poliquin’s campaign has charged repeatedly that Golden is a loyalist of California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who aspires to hold the position if her party wins control of the House.

But Golden said he won’t back her. “It’s time for a change,” he said. He said he wants to see a leader from “a new generation” and won’t endorse Pelosi.

Poliquin’s campaign spokesman, Brendan Conley, said the congressman supports “anybody but Pelosi.”

Conley also pointed out that Golden is getting millions of dollars in support from a pro-Pelosi super PAC. Poliquin is getting similar backing from a super PAC tied to Ryan.

Bond said it’s premature to consider the leadership vote “given the unpredictability of elections recently. Every House seat is up for grabs, and I’ll vote for the best available candidate in the pool.”

“My definition of best available is based on: ethics, understanding of law, ability to respect process, ability to understand impact to the average citizen, fiscal responsibility and mindfulness of the vulnerable,” Bond said.

Hoar and Bond would have to choose which major party to caucus with if elected to Congress.

Because he could not be reached for comment, it isn’t clear what Hoar would do in terms of partisan alignment or the next speaker if he is elected.

Bond said she “would like to caucus with both” parties, but recognizes “that may be impractical.” If she must choose, she said, “I will likely caucus with the majority as that will provide the greatest benefit to Maine.”

There are no independents in the House, but the two in the Senate — Maine’s Angus King and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders — each caucuses with the Democrats.

scollins@sunjournal.com

The four candidates vying for Maine’s 2nd District congressional seat are, from left, Tiffany Bond, Jared Golden, Will Hoar and U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin.