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Maine Republicans have about two weeks to choose between three 2nd Congressional District candidates who have spent much of their campaigns praising President Donald Trump but have carved out different areas of interest.

The hopefuls vying to challenge freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden real estate agent Adrienne Bennett of Bangor, former state Sen. Eric Brakey of Auburn and former state Rep. Dale Crafts of Lisbon have all built their race around supporting President Donald Trump, often praising him for a strong economy that faltered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The candidates have shown up at protests led by conservatives blasting Gov. Janet Mills economic restrictions stemming from the coronavirus. Brakey was the only one who did not support the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by Trump. That libertarian streak carries over into differences with the others on foreign policy and policing.

Those issues are sure to matter to Republicans who put fiscal issues such as taxes and spending at the top of their list this winter in a Bangor Daily News reader survey on election priorities. Behind that was jobs and the economy and national security. Here are the differences between those candidates, taking those priorities and recent events into account.

Brakey has differentiated himself as more of a libertarian, breaking with Bennett and Crafts on foreign policy and federal spending. Brakey came to Maine in 2012 when he worked on the Republican presidential campaign of Ron Paul. His support for more libertarian candidates continued in 2016, when Brakey chaired Kentucky Sen. Rand Pauls primary campaign before eventually supporting Trump in the general election.

That change in alliance is something his opponents try to hit him on frequently, but Brakey has plenty of views that align himself with the president. He is supportive of Trumps stated goal to pull U.S. troops out of the Middle East. It put him directly at odds with Crafts during a February debate. Crafts said that a retreat would cause economic and international instability.

But Brakey has deviated from his support of the president on the CARES Act, which sent billions of dollars in aid to states and corporations, as well as relief money to small businesses and individuals. The $2 trillion bill drew the ire of Brakey, who has made criticism of government spending and the deficit a central part of his platform.

He told the Sun Journal in March that the bill was paid for by stealing from our retirements with inflation and the futures of our children with debt and that the relief checks sent in the mail wouldnt cover the costs to taxpayers in the long run.

Bennett and Crafts pounced on that stance, saying the bill was critical for Americans to weather the pandemic. While both reiterated their support for the bill during the June 10 debate, Crafts and Bennett agreed that federal spending should be reined in.

The three candidates have vocalized support for police, but Brakey has gone furthest in backing accountability measures. Like most Republicans, the candidates responses to protests over instances of police brutality and racism across the country after the deaths of Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis have been to indicate support for police.

But they take different approaches to police reform while vocalizing support for law enforcement. During a June 10 NEWS CENTER Maine candidate forum, Bennett called for stakeholders to find common ground and identify problems. She argued that the issue should be approached from a budgeting perspective of needs versus wants.

Crafts took a more general approach, saying some sort of reform should happen when a police officer has had multiple complaints lodged against him, as was the case with Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes before he died. He also said any industry is going to have bad apples and called activist calls to defund police ludicrous.

Brakey, who did not attend the forum, called Floyds death an unacceptable tragedy in a statement. He said he supports banning no-knock raids and policies that protect rotten apples.

The candidates experiences have shaped the issues they want to tackle in office. The three candidates are different in age and background. Brakey, 31, is a longtime political operative. Bennett, 41, is a former TV reporter best known for her tenure as a spokesperson to former Gov. Paul LePage. Crafts, 61, is a businessman who served four terms in the Legislature and has used a wheelchair since he was paralyzed in a 1983 crash.

Bennett has styled herself an unconventional politician shaped by her poor upbringing in rural Waldo county and having her daughter at a young age. During the Lewiston forum, she indicated interest in transportation and infrastructure policy in Congress.

Brakey has leaned on his time in the Legislature, often pointing to a bill he sponsored that removed concealed carry permit requirements in Maine. He has made personalizing health care a part of his platform, including expanding health savings accounts and putting Medicaid money into them. In February, he said he would seek a role shaping health policy in Congress.

Crafts, meanwhile, has built his platform on his history as a businessman and a legislator, which won him the endorsement of LePage as he announced his candidacy last fall. He has expressed interest in serving on fiscal committees to leverage that experience.

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GOP candidates in Maine's 2nd District praise Trump but still have differences - Bangor Daily News

ThursdayJun25,2020at6:00AM

This years presidential election (scheduled for November 3rd) happens to fall on my 18th birthday, so I just barely make the cutoff to vote. After looking at my options for the election, I feel that I cannot support Trump or Biden.

I sympathize with those who either dont vote or vote begrudgingly for the lesser of two evils. Thankfully, theres a third option who will be on the ballot in all 50 states: Dr. Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party.

Jo is a psychology lecturer, grandmother, and lifelong freedom fighter. Her campaign is all about moving away from the constant encroachment of big government and instead allowing society to flourish under the principles of personal and economic liberty.

Jo wants to disentangle the U.S. from its dangerous foreign conflicts and bring our troops home. She wants to end the failed, costly War on Drugs that treats addicts like criminals instead of fellow people who just need help. She wants to work towards reining in our outrageous $26 trillion national debt. She wants to remove the stranglehold lobbyists and bureaucrats have over our healthcare system. She wants to treat immigrants humanely, as individuals and families searching for better lives. She wants to slash income taxes across the board, so that hard-working Americans can keep what theyve rightfully earned.

Jo Jorgensen is in this race for you and me, and I hope youll take her into consideration.

James Ketler

Lakeville

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Letter: Libertarian candidate offers an alternative to Trump and Biden - SouthCoastToday.com

Chad Elwartowski, an American software engineer turned Bitcoin trader, is one of the leading lights of the "seasteading" movementa libertarian drive to build independent floating cities on the high seas. Right now, he's constructing a prototype for the worlds first 3D-printed, smart, floating home, off the Caribbean coast of Panama. A prior effort, in Thailand, was towed off by the Thai navy in 2019.

Interest in seasteading is enjoying a renaissance among libertarian, tech millionaires, keen to escape the threat of increasing government surveillance. The movement has come a long way since entrepreneurs Peter Thiel and Patri Friedman (grandson of eminent economist Milton) launched the Seasteading Institute in 2008.

Coronavirus is an opportunity to show the world that what were building is actually going to be very useful in the future, said Elwartowski, in a recent video update on his project.

But Elwartowskis vision has changed since his first attempt at seasteading in Thailand, when he and his Thai partner Supranee Thepdet were forced to flee, dodging Thai patrol boats. He was tipped off that the authorities had determined that the fiberglass cabin, on top of a floating pole, posed a threat to the country's sovereigntypunishable by death.

Now, theyve settled in Panama and joined a local business called Ocean Builders, which is creating 30 "seapods," and selling them on the open market for between $200,000 to $800,000 each. The pods will be registered as boats under the Panama flag for legal purposes.

Its somewhat ironic that staunch libertarians are now asking for government permission to complete their utopian dreams. But the fact is that attempts, over the years, to set up floating societies have flounderedeven those sanctioned by national governments.

In 2017, the French Polynesian government approved the Seasteading Institutes plans for an autonomous community near the French Polynesian coast, using a cryptocurrency called Varyon. However, the authorities rescinded its approval a year later, in response to objections of tech colonialism by the residents of Tahiti, the nearest well-populated island in the archipelago.

Friedman is now involved in the Marshall Islands scheme to introduce a sovereign digital currency. He said recently that, in the past month, he is seeing a lot of inquiries from peers who want to know wheres best to move.

He and Thiel have moved on to self-governed "charter cities" in developing countries, allowing international firms to set up shop in the semi-autonomous zones. The project takes the form of a venture fund, bolstered by $9 million in funding from Thiel, as well as investors and Bitcoin heavyweights Marc Andreessen, Roger Ver, and Balaji Srinivasan.

Seasteaders have found out it is probably better to make an agreement with the government, said Titus Gebel, CEO of Tipolis, another startup developing semi-autonomous cities run by private companies.

It may not be the original libertarian dream but it'll do for now.

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This libertarian Bitcoin trader wants to build a city on the sea - Decrypt

Libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (RKy.) has crushed his opponent in the Republican primary for the Northern Kentucky seat he's represented since 2012. It was one of two notable victories for GOP primary candidates against more overtly Trump-aligned challengers.

By early evening, Massie had racked up 88 percent of the unofficial vote against Todd McMurtry, a lawyer who represented Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann in his lawsuit against media outlets. The official results won't be released until June 30, when election officials have had enough time to count mail-in ballots.

Massie's libertarian streak and willingness to buck Republican leadership have earned him explicit rebukes from President Donald Trump in recent months, something McMurtry did his best to capitalize on.

When Massie held up the passage of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in Marchinsisting that the pricey legislation receive a roll call voteTrump called him a "disaster for America" on Twitter, and demanded his expulsion from the Republican Party.

Massie, in turn, made much of McMurtry's own social media activity. The lawyer had made several comments that were critical Trump. He'd also approvingly tweeted out a blog post primer on the alt-right and called for resistance to the "demonization of white people."

Those posts saw several Republican House members withdraw their endorsement of McMurtry, and cleared the way for Massie's victory.

Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath is also leading in Kentucky's U.S. Senate Democratic primary against progressive challenger Charles Booker. Provided she maintains her lead once all the mail-in ballots are counted, she'll go on to face incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell (RKy), who also won his primary tonight.

Trump's endorsement of businesswoman Lynda Bennett also failed to prevent her stunning loss tonight to 24-year-old real estate investor and motivational speaker Madison Cawthorn in the Republican primary for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District.

That seat was vacated earlier this year when former Rep. Mark Meadows (RN.C.), one-time head of the House Freedom Caucus, resigned to take up the position as Trump's chief of staff. Despite endorsements from Trump, Meadows, and Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas), Bennett received 35 percent of the vote in the two-person run-off election.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Meadows' apparent manipulation of the process to make Bennett his handpicked successor angered local Republicans. Cawthorn re-framed Bennett's many high-profile endorsements as proof that Bennett would be beholden to Washington elites.

Provided he beats Democratic candidate Moe Davis in November, Cawthorn will become the youngest member of Congress.

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Trump Wanted To 'Throw Massie Out of Republican Party!' but the Libertarian-Leaning Congressman Just Won His Primary Anyway - Reason

Go Green Montana first appeared in May and spent money to support just one candidate, Wendie Fredrickson of Helena. Shes a former auditor in the state health department and ran against Lolo resident Dennis Daneke, who had implied hed drop out of the race if he won the primary.

Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is running against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines in the race, which is already drawing national attention and millions in advertising to the state.

The PAC did not report the source of its funding before the June 2 primary, in which it spent $27,000 on advertising, mailings and a website supporting Fredrickson and opposing Danake.

CSG did not return an email asking for comment Wednesday. The groups president and founder is Mark Meckler, who was the national coordinator and co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. Its chairman of the board is Eric OKeefe, who has worked with U.S. Term Limits, the Campaign for Primary Accountability and other groups.

The Green Party qualified for the ballot in Montana this year after a signature-gathering effort paid for by the Montana Republican Party.

Third-party candidates can draw votes from the major parties, with the Green Party seen as siphoning votes from Democrats while Libertarians, who are qualified to appear on the ballot already, can take votes that might otherwise go to Republicans.

Third-party candidates playing a role in Montana elections is not a new concept: In the 2012 U.S. Senate race featuring Democratic incumbent Jon Tester and former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Libertarian candidate benefited from $500,000 worth of advertising from a group that also supported Tester.

Theres not currently a Libertarian candidate in the U.S. Senate race. Eric Fulton, of Bozeman, filed but later withdrew. He had previously run as a Republican for the state Legislature. The spot was filled by Susan Good Geise, a Lewis and Clark county commissioner and former chair of the state GOP, who also dropped out of the race in May, citing a need to focus on the countys response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Montana Libertarian Party has until Aug. 19 to pick a replacement candidate.

To see what else is happening in Gallatin County subscribe to the online paper.

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PAC backing Green candidate funded by conservative group - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle