All posts by David Farmer

David Farmer

About David Farmer

David Farmer is a political and media consultant in Portland, where he lives with his wife and two children. He was senior adviser to Democrat Mike Michaud’s campaign for governor and a longtime journalist. You can reach him at dfarmer14@hotmail.com.

Former Democratic Party chair attempts to break the campaign financing mold

Ben Grant, the former chair of the Maine Democratic Party, is running for state representative for House District 41 in Portland. Grant, an attorney and PTO board member among other things, is trying a novel approach to fundraising for his race. Candidates can finance their campaigns in one of three ways: they can pay for […]

Time to give Maine lawmakers and judges a raise

Members of the Maine Legislature, judges and the governor deserve a raise – not because they’re all great at their job, though many are, but because they are woefully underpaid for the difficult work that they do. A recent story in the Portland Press Herald by reporter Scott Thistle, however, highlights the problem with giving […]

20 thoughts on Election 2020

As we put the Election Day 2019 in the rearview mirror and look forward to 2020, here are 20 election thoughts for your consideration. 1) In the movie “Welcome to Mooseport,” President Monroe “Eagle” Cole moves to his vacation home in Maine and ends up running for mayor of the fictional Mooseport against plumber and […]

Gun stunt shows desperation in GOP primary for Congress

There’s a real race going on in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District where Republicans will pick their nominee to face U.S. Rep. Jared Golden next year. Failed U.S. Senate candidate and former state Sen. Eric Brakey was the first candidate to announce his intention to run. For months, he had the field to himself and managed […]

Frozen by fear, fed up with lack of action on gun safety

The first text from my daughter arrived at 10:40 Tuesday morning. “I’m in lockdown.” “It’s not a drill.” The third text was chilling: “Probs won’t die, but just in case (heart symbol) (heart symbol).” The texts continued for a few minutes. “They may be evacuating not really sure, but we hear lots of movement in […]

Save some outrage for injustice close to home

Outrage is in right now. And there’s plenty to be outraged about: The president has asked other countries to help him smear a political opponent, he’s abandoning Kurdish allies in Syria and he continues his relentless attacks against LGBTQ people. A million people were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border last year, some of them kids […]

Lives of transgender people on trial at the Supreme Court

I’m nervous about next week. Really anxious. The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on three cases that have the potential to upend the lives of LGBTQ people across the country. If President Donald Trump and his allies are successful in their arguments to the court, overnight it will overnight become OK under federal law […]

Deceptive people’s veto tactics don’t work in elections

Signers beware. That’s the first lesson all Mainers should take away from the recent people’s veto effort targeting vaccine regulations in the state. This summer, an anti-vaccine group collected signatures to challenge a new law that limits exemptions to vaccine requirements for public school students. Under the new law, which is now on hold, children […]

Democrats’ aren’t just dreaming about health care reform

We no longer have a two-party system in American Democracy. We have an asymmetrical system where one party continues to comport itself largely along traditional lines with deference to the law, the Constitution and Democratic norms, and the other has declared total and complete war on any institution or check that would constrain its power. […]