Democratic candidates outline how they would stand up to Trump

Arresting law enforcement officers who are violating people’s constitutional rights. Establishing a public health insurance option. Continuing to challenge the federal government in court.

Those were some ways that the five Democratic gubernatorial candidates said they would stand up to President Donald Trump’s administration, during the candidates’ second televised debate, hosted by the Bangor Daily News and WGME Tuesday evening. 

Over the past year, Maine has been a target of the Trump administration, facing multiple investigations and threats of losing federal funding over its transgender athlete policy and a immigration enforcement surge. And beyond those actions, Mainers have, like the rest of the nation, been negatively impacted by the administration’s cuts, from Medicaid to food assistance, homelessness services and agriculture funding.

The five Democratic candidates — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, energy entrepreneur Angus King III, former Maine House of Representatives Speaker Hannah Pingree, former Senate President Troy Jackson and former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah — outlined different ways they would work to mitigate the impact of those policies.

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“We have to stand up to Trump on every fight,” said Bellows, who has openly opposed the administration several times. “We need to pass laws to safeguard our rights here in our state, and we need to make sure that we are stepping up in our budget … to fill the gaps that the federal government is leaving.”

She highlighted her record, which  included her decision to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot, banning undercover license plates for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and suing the federal government to protect sensitive voter data. 

“I’ll stand up to Trump, I’ll protect every Mainer, just as I have been doing as secretary of state,” she said.

The other candidates echoed that sentiment, although some were more measured than others. Jackson said his fellow candidates weren’t going far enough in their plans to protect Mainers from the Trump administration, arguing he would authorize the arrest of federal law enforcement officers. 

“Law enforcement does not get a pass because they’re law enforcement,” he said. “If they’re violating people’s rights, they should be held accountable immediately.”

When questioned on what authority he would have to do that, Jackson said he has consulted with attorneys general in other states, who told him anyone who violates the state’s constitution could be arrested. Several ICE agents have been arrested in recent months among growing concerns of misconduct, including for using excessive force or assaulting detainees, according to the Associated Press.

“We are facing a whole new slate of crises, a healthcare system that’s crumbling, kids who are hungry, housing that’s unaffordable and unavailable,” Shah said, listing off state-level challenges that have been exacerbated by the Trump administration.

“When you add to that the gross incompetence and corruption of the Trump administration, what used to be an urgency is now an emergency,” he added.

Like Jackson, Shah also focused on stricter restrictions for federal law enforcement officers, including mandating the use of body cameras and banning face  masks. But unlike Jackson, he would rely on the court system to hold agents accountable.

What Shah suggested is already happening. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union sued federal agents for the wrongful detention of a civil engineer in Portland during the large-scale operation in January

Pingree focused on the Trump administration’s impact on public health, saying “Donald Trump has literally attacked our healthcare system at every front.”

She outlined some of the most harmful rollbacks and policy changes: the exclusion of reproductive healthcare providers from Medicaid reimbursements, scaling back Medicaid eligibility and getting rid of enhanced premium tax credits for marketplace health insurance.

To fight back, Pingree said she would invest in primary, maternity, and reproductive care.

“This is just one of the many ways that I would fight Donald Trump, but it’s an important one for our families and our healthcare system,” she said.

King compared the Trump administration to the “eye of Sauron,” saying he’s made things worse for Mainers in almost every realm. But, he said, “Mainers brought friends groceries. They brought kids to school. They stood up for one another and gathered in the streets and pushed back,” highlighting the local response to the immigration enforcement surge.

“And that’s what we’re going to have to do for all of the disasters that Trump visits upon us,” he added.

He also said working with other governors from blue states on matters like energy and healthcare would be the “first line of defense.”

The candidates spent much of the hour reiterating their priorities on housing, affordability and education that they discussed during the first debate last week. During their closing remarks, they were each asked which other candidate they would ask voters to rank second, since the primary uses ranked choice voting. Only Shah answered directly: Hannah Pingree.