News · Press Release

The Case Against Rep. Bruce Poliquin

“Maine voters clearly recognized that service to his country and to his community is a value that has driven Jared Golden throughout his life,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján. “As a United States Marine Corps veteran who answered the call after 9/11, Jared has stood tall in the Maine Legislature for the needs of veterans suffering from PTSD, and is now leading the way to make affordable health care accessible to more of his fellow Mainers. Jared is on track to win back this district and ensure working Maine families once again have a fighter on their side in the Second District.”

To: Interested Parties

From: Cole Leiter, DCCC Regional Press Secretary

Date: June 20, 2018

RE: The Case Against Rep. Bruce Poliquin

 

If there was ever a notion Congressman Poliquin had a brand independent from his party in Washington, that disappeared the moment he voted along party lines to make health care more expensive for Maine families. While Senator Collins broke ranks with Republican leadership and showed all of Maine what real political independence looks like, Congressman Poliquin voted against thousands of working families and their pocketbooks. That vote is just one example of Congressman Poliquin’s long trajectory of losing touch with Maine values. He has run from accountability, ignored Mainer’s questions, and closed the door to their concerns.

 

The primary result in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District puts Democrats in a strong position to win back this district. This pick-up opportunity is even greater because of the contrast Lewiston native and Marine Corps veteran Jared Golden strikes with out-of-touch Washington politician Bruce Poliquin. While Congressman Poliquin has spent nearly four years showing Mainers they can’t count on him to stand with them, Jared Golden has a proven record of service to his country, in uniform and in his community. Jared Golden has always stood up for veterans, and led the charge for better access to affordable health care in Maine.

 

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

 

“Democrats have landed a top recruit in a rural Maine district where candidate profiles matter — even more so than most places… Golden attacked Poliquin’s vote for the GOP health care bill in his campaign launch, drawing an implicit contrast between the congressman’s vote and that of GOP Sen. Susan Collins, for whom Golden once worked in Washington, D.C.” [Roll Call, 8/24/2017]

Editorial Board: “Our View: Poliquin should be ashamed of health care vote.” [Central Maine Post, 5/7/2017]

 

“Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin has yet to declare either his support or opposition for the bill… I asked him if he had arrived at a decision. He said nothing and made a beeline to the restroom. Unfortunately it was the door to the women’s restroom that he had first run to, so he corrected himself and went into the men’s room. When he emerged several minutes later, he was wearing his earbuds and scurried away.” [Slate, 5/2/2017]

 

Editorial Board: “Our View: Poliquin hurt Mainers with vote for tax bill.” [Portland Press Herald, 11/19/2017]

 

Headline: Rep. Poliquin co-sponsors bill to cut $7 billion from federal Child Health Insurance Program.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/15/18]

 

“A group of veterans and veterans’ families gathered Wednesday outside the Bangor offices of 2nd District Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin to deliver more than 600 complaints from Mainers who say they are unhappy with Poliquin’s vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act… Bissell says the best way that Poliquin could help the largest number of veterans and their dependents would be to join Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in trying to preserve the ACA.” [Maine Public Radio, 10/11/2017]

 

Rep. Bruce Poliquin: Couldn’t Find Maine [Values] on a Map

 

Poliquin’s Washington’s Health Care Agenda Charges Maine More For Less

 

Congressman Poliquin voted with his party in Washington for a health care repeal bill that would have shut the doors on rural hospitals, skyrocketed costs for Maine’s seniors, and had disastrous effects on the fight against opioids. Instead of explaining his support for that disastrous piece of legislation, Poliquin ducked Mainers by running into bathrooms and out of senior centers to avoid questions.

Poliquin’s evasiveness and his vote against Mainers’ access to affordable care puts him at odds with Senator Susan Collins, who received a hero’s welcome after she cast one of the deciding votes to sink Washington Republicans’ health care repeal. As if Congressman Poliquin’s opposition to Mainers’ ability to afford health care was not enough, Poliquin took the extraordinary move of co-sponsoring a bill that would cut $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which serves more than 14,000 children in Maine’s 2nd district alone.

 

In sharp contrast to Congressman Poliquin, Jared Golden has led the charge to follow the will of Maine’s voters and expand Medicaid. That pits a true advocate for more affordable health care against a Washington puppet making Mainers’ coverage more expensive.

 

Closed-Door Policy

 

Congressman Poliquin’s closed-door policy when it comes to answering to veterans will be a problem the Congressman can’t run from in 2018. Despite that, the list of issues he owes veterans answers on continues to grow.

 

Here’s one: at the same time Congressman Poliquin has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the payday lending industry, he voted to weaken regulations on payday lenders – even though they regularly prey on veterans and their families. Here’s another: Congressman Poliquin publicly supported legislation that would directly and negatively impact thousands of Maine veterans’ ability to put food on the table. Then he refused to meet with those veterans when they came to express their concern.

 

In sharp contrast, Jared Golden is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, went to college on the GI Bill, personally suffered from PTSD, and has put veterans’ needs front and center in his leadership in the Maine Legislature. Maine veterans won’t have any question who has their back.

 

 

Abandoning Maine’s Seniors

 

From start to finish, Congressman Poliquin’s record in Washington has shown he won’t stand on the side of Maine’s seniors, or Maine’s workers. Poliquin voted with Washington Republicans for their healthcare repeal bill that would have allowed insurers to charge older Americans five times more than other consumers. According to Senator Collins, that vote would “have a devastating impact [on] a program that… provides health care to our most vulnerable citizens, including disabled children and low-income seniors.”

 

Doubling down on his attacks against seniors, Poliquin went back on his campaign pledge to reduce the debt and once again voted with his party for a corporate tax handout that blew a $1.9 trillion hole in the deficit. Then, in a last ditch attempt to cover his tracks, he turned around and voted for a Republican budget gimmick that “would require massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ health benefits and the military.”

 

 

THE PATH TO VICTORY

 

Maine’s second district is among the most rural in the country, and is a test case for Democrats’ ability to win back white, working class voters who supported Congressman Michaud, voted twice for President Obama, but have moved towards Republicans in the era of President Trump. Recent polling has shown that Congressman Poliquin’s support for the Washington driven health care repeal could erode his support among key Obama/Trump voters in Maine’s second district. That, coupled with Jared Golden’s working class roots in Lewiston, military service, and work to enact a popular Medicaid expansion plan make him the kind of candidate who can win back Trump voters for whom Poliquin’s support of health care repeal is a dividing issue.

 

Recent public polling from PPP showed that a Democratic candidate has a 1-point lead over Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin, leading 45% to 44%. This poll is one in a series of public PPP polls that shows a Democratic candidate leading Poliquin by between 1 and 4 points. Additionally, Poliquin’s job performance is under-water with Mainers. Only 41% approve of Poliquin’s job performance, despite his short tenure in office, while 49% disapprove. That is a sharp departure from Poliquin’s even favorability at this point last cycle, further revealing the damage Congressman Poliquin has done to his bases of support by rubberstamping a harmful Washington agenda.





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