In 1st District primary, Republicans diverge on their approach to Trump

With early voting underway, the two Republicans running in Maine’s 1st Congressional District primary are working to differentiate themselves and get their names out to voters. 

It’s been a quieter front for the Republican Party, but voters in CD1 will decide June 9 who will face incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in November. 

“There really hasn’t been nearly as much focus on this race as the gubernatorial race,” said Chuck Ellis, chair of the Cumberland County Republican Committee. 

That’s largely because the district leans heavily Democratic, and Pingree won her last reelection bid by a wide margin. But the candidates, and southern Maine Republicans, aren’t giving up just yet.

“I think we would love to — as people are putting it — retire Chellie Pingree,” Ellis said. “There is the reality that CD1 is very demographically Democrat-voting, and it’s hard to unseat an incumbent.”

But Heidi Sampson, chair of the York County Republican Committee, said she isn’t writing off the race. 

“I’m a firm believer in where there’s breath, there’s hope, and you just never know what’s going on,” Sampson said. “It’s like any competition any athlete gets into, you need to run the race across the finish line like you’re gonna win, because you don’t know if your opponent’s gonna fall flat on their face.”

The candidates 

A born and raised Mainer, Joshua Pietrowicz is a self-described “Androscoggin County mutt” who bounced around the county growing up. He graduated from Central Maine Christian Academy in Lewiston, and ultimately moved with his wife to live in New Gloucester. 

At 26 years old, he’s worked in sales while running for municipal offices and for state representative, but has not won any elected position. 

“And I’ve never been old enough before to give Chellie Pingree a challenge, but I certainly am now, and I’ll do everything in my power to hold her accountable for the good of the American people,” he said. “Because it’s not about me or somebody else, it’s about having good people in elected office regardless of their party, and I think she’s failed us in that regard.”

Russell, 71, grew up in Fort Fairfield, and is a retired Army colonel. He served for just over 30 years as an airborne ranger Green Beret, and was in combat in Panama, Somalia, Afghanistan and other crisis response operations. 

He returned to Maine in 2021, and was the Republican nominee for the district in 2022, but lost to incumbent Pingree in the general election. 

“I hope to change the United States here and retire it back to the way it was,” Russell said. “I’m running for office because I’m not satisfied with the way the country is being run here currently, and I am looking to change that.”

President Trump’s role 

Although President Donald Trump hasn’t weighed into any of Maine’s primary races, the president is still clearly a key figure in the CD1 race — and both Russell and Pietrowicz are trying to walk the line on their support for him. 

Pietrowicz has been more critical of Trump, but still does not oppose his administration entirely. 

“I don’t like his style and a lot of things, and he’s a very arrogant man,” Pietrowicz said. “I do think his heart’s in the right place as far as serving the nation goes.”

During the candidates’ only debate last week, Russell said he was not going to be a rubber stamp for the president. 

But in an earlier interview, he said when it comes to his agenda in Washington, “I think the biggest thing is to provide support to President Trump and what he’s trying to do with the nation here right now.”

When asked at the debate if there was a clear line to how far he would support the president, Russell said he would weigh each issue as it came up. And when pushed to name something he disagreed with Trump on, Russell said it was more about how Trump behaved, than what he did.

“I don’t know if I would say it’s a decision I disagree with, how we go about articulating those decisions — the way he deals with personnel when he lets them go, I don’t agree with how that happens, it’s not the way a leader treats subordinates, particularly when they are leaving,” Russell said. 

He went on to say that some people go too far to oppose everything Trump is doing.

“We talk about drawing the line in support of President Trump, the other side of the coin is why are we drawing the line in opposition to President Trump just because it’s President Trump that is proposing a solution,” Russell said. “We’ve got to work across the aisle here to come up with solutions that are the best for the nation.”

Pietrowicz was more direct about his disapproval of some of Trump’s actions, specifically pointing to Trump’s acceptance of a luxury jetliner from Qatar. But he said he still broadly supports the president and his agenda.

“Do I still think that I would have voted for Trump over Kamala if the election was held today or back in 24 if I had hindsight? Yeah, but I’m still going to be honest about what I think every damn time,” Pietrowicz said.

He said he feels it is the duty of any member of Congress to critique the president, regardless of “whether they’re a Democrat serving a Democratic president or a Republican serving a Republican president.”

It’s difficult to say which approach will pay off with voters, said Ellis with the Cumberland County GOP. 

“I think there’s some people who are going to want a change, and again there is a segment of the population that is a bit more critical of some of the things that Trump has been doing,” Ellis said.

Sampson in York County said that Trump is still a key campaign issue for many voters. 

“Trump’s not physically on the ballot, but he’s certainly not acting like the lame duck president,” Sampson said. “So to have somebody who’s willing to go to Washington and is willing to work with the president, as opposed to opposing the president, I know in my mind that that’s a no-brainer. You need a team that’s all rolling in the same direction.” 

Political stances 

On the issues, Pietrowicz presents himself as not a standard Republican candidate. 

He’s focused on the readiness of the U.S. Navy. He’s also concerned about housing affordability, but disagrees with the Democratic approach to utilize down payment assistance, and said he would pursue lowering mortgage rates for first-time homeowners, and wants people to be able to keep those low rates when they move into another home. 

He wants the education system to do more to prepare students for adult life. 

“They don’t learn how to work on their car, they don’t learn how to file their taxes in high school, they don’t learn how to do any of these things,” he said. “But what if we did take those last four formative years and said, ‘This is how you be an adult. This is how you be a good citizen.’”

He supports some form of universal healthcare, because he argues that Americans are already paying for it through taxes that go towards Medicaid and Medicare. 

Overall, he said he will do more than follow the party line, and will dig into issues to find the best solutions for Mainers, regardless of where that plan comes from. 

“I don’t think it’s necessarily gone, but I don’t see many in Washington that are willing to compromise,” Pietrowicz said. “I don’t see many in Washington that are willing to make deals for the best interests of their nation, but rather, they almost wholeheartedly love their party and will serve that.”

Alternatively, Russell identifies as a more traditional Republican. He said his top priority is the economy, and that Mainers haven’t yet gotten the full rewards of policies passed by Trump.

“I think our disaffected population is our young people and our older people on a fixed income, and some of the benefits in the great big beautiful bill are not being taken advantage of by those target populations,” Russell said. “So I want to exert what influence I could over the Maine government to make sure that those benefits are experienced by all of our citizens.”

He said his issue with Pingree is that he doesn’t think she “represents all of the people in the district,” namely Republican voters.

If elected, he knows he will have to be able to represent those on Pingree’s side of the aisle. But he hopes to tackle that with transparency, starting with town halls on the campaign trail. 

“I hope to hold town halls with all of my constituents, Republicans, Democrats, independents, everyone,” Russell said. “So number one, they can understand what it is I’m doing in Washington, D.C., but far more importantly, so I can understand how they feel about the different issues that I’m going to be voting on.”

The experience question

With both candidates taking more nuanced approaches to the issues, voters are left to consider their experience outside of politics. 

“You’ve got a young guy, one of the youngest people that’s engaging in Maine politics as a candidate, really at just about any level, has a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and has some ideas that he wants to try to advance,” Ellis said of Pietrowicz. “And then you’ve got the seasoned veteran, literally and figuratively, in Ron Russell, who ran two years ago.”

And the candidates have spoken about their experiences directly. 

“The issues between Josh and I are not that significant, but what is significant is the amount of life experience: the lessons learned, the things you’ve succeeded at and the things that you have failed at,” Russell said in his closing remarks at the debate. 

He said he has a picture from Iran in 1980, of the crash site after the failed attempt to rescue hostages, that says: “Don’t confuse enthusiasm with capability.”

“So, I would ask the voters out there, don’t confuse enthusiasm with capability,” Russell said. “I’m the one with the experience and the capability to be successful in Washington, D.C.”

But to Pietrowicz, his lack of experience is a benefit, not a risk.

“I don’t think that the experience is necessarily one thing or the other, because I don’t think that’s how our Congress operates,” he said. “I think a fresh face with tenacity is far more powerful than somebody who’s bought off.”

Pietrowicz said he voted for Russell in 2022, in the primary and general election, but argues that he doesn’t have the energy to beat Pingree now. 

“I think Ron has an excellent career of service,” Pietrowicz said. “I don’t think he has any energy to go to Washington and get done any of the policies that he talks about. I don’t think he has the wherewithal to meet the opposition.”