AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas, who lost that job after a disappointing 2022 election cycle for her party, said Friday that she will run against U.S. Sen. Angus King in the November election.
Kouzounas enters as a longshot to knock off the 79-year-old King, a popular independent who caucuses with Democrats and is likely running his last campaign. He registered 60 percent approval in a national poll last year, registering as the nation’s fifth-most popular senator.
Her Friday announcement was notable for the person whom Kouzounas credited with getting her to run: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. Kouzounas said she decided to run hours after the Republican senator called her on Monday to discuss a potential run and “laid it out on the line.”
“I think we need a woman’s vote,” Kouzounas told conservative radio host Ray Richardson of WLOB. “We need a person that is a Mainer, that is a mother, that is a grandmother, that is concerned about our state, that is concerned about inflation, that is concerned about school loans, drugs, fentanyl addiction.”
King made history as Maine’s second-ever independent governor when he was elected in 1994 over a field of candidates, including Collins. He served two terms and went to the Senate in 2012 after the abrupt retirement of Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. He easily won that contest and a 2018 reelection race in which state Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, was his chief foe.
Before that campaign, King said it was likely his last run. But he decided by late 2022 that he would run again. He will be the oldest person to ever represent Maine in the Senate if he wins a third term. In the Senate, he has been a generally reliable vote for Democrats while carving out a portfolio on defense issues as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Kouzounas has long run a Skowhegan dental practice, gaining attention for organizing an annual day of care across the state for those without dental insurance. She unsuccessfully ran for a Maine House of Representatives seat in 2012, staying active in Republican politics after being promoted from vice chair of the state party to chair in 2017.
The following year, Democrats and Gov. Janet Mills swept to full control of Augusta and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden ousted former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s 2nd District. Former Gov. Paul LePage and Poliquin failed to recapture their seats in a 2022 election preceded by high Republican hopes during a midterm year for President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Members of the state party laid some of the blame at Kouzounas’ feet. She was ousted last year and replaced with former lawmaker Joel Stetkis of Canaan. She led Donald Trump’s effort to qualify for the ballot in Maine late last year and has been aligned with Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee.
No prominent Republicans had been wrangling behind the scenes to run against King. Kouzounas is the third person to register for the race after the incumbent and Democrat David Costello of Brunswick.
“To have a senator go unopposed, I think, is terrible,” Kouzounas said. “Besides, what has [King] done?”