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Joel Clement, the first federal whistleblower of the first Trump administration, is a 10th-generation Mainer who lives in Wayne.
It’s all blowing up. The TV, the radio, even my phone, with shrill political demands for my attention and my dollars. For a midterm election, this year feels a little more bonkers than usual, and the numbers bear it out; hundreds of millions of dollars for advertising in the state and one billionaire, the mercurial Elon Musk, has alone committed up to $120 million to support Susan Collins and other Republican candidates. Why have the warring voices risen to such a pitch in 2026?
There is always a lot at stake in the combative back and forth between political parties; power, business investment, social priorities and ideological influence to name a few. This time around, though, it feels like there is something else at stake, and it’s not about political games or who gets to lead agencies and make laws. This time it feels like it’s about us, about our ability to buy a house or rent an apartment, to afford a car or cover healthcare surprises. Finally, the focus seems to be landing where it belongs — the well-being of those who live in this state and this country.
As voters, we should keep it there.
The playing field has tilted toward corporations and billionaires for decades now, and they have a strong interest in keeping it that way. They also have seemingly endless resources to convince us that it’s in our best interests for them to get richer. The ruse was that if they get richer, we get richer. Well the first part held up — they got richer. According to Forbes, in 1982 there were 13 billionaires in the U.S. In 2026, there are 989.
Meanwhile, the middle-class share of the nation’s wealth has declined steadily. In 1990, the bottom 90% of American households owned substantially more wealth than the top 1%. Today, the top 1% owns more than the bottom 90% combined. Combined.
To make matters worse, tax cuts for the wealthy have led to dramatic cuts in services for the rest. Wonder why there was a dangerous cyclospora outbreak this year? Look to cuts at public health agencies. Wonder why the IRS is not chasing down sophisticated tax dodgers? Look to the IRS budget cuts. Wonder why disaster response has gotten worse as natural disasters increase in ferocity and impact? Look to the cuts to FEMA and the federal science agencies. Wonder why there is a national outcry against the proliferation of energy-sucking data centers? Look to cuts at the EPA and other agencies that would normally require permitting.
The data center invasion is emblematic of corporate influence. It’s a wild west out there for big tech as they build “hyperscale” data centers that consume the equivalent of entire cities — raising household electricity bills, fouling water supplies and turbocharging climate change. All this while providing comparatively few jobs and opportunities.
While big tech is getting handouts, it’s nearly impossible to find an affordable apartment in any of the larger cities in Maine, let alone buy a house. Wealthy investors are outbidding families and renters to buy up Maine’s real estate inventory for investment properties dedicated to short term rentals. As a result, historic Maine towns like Boothbay Harbor have become ghost towns in the winter while families and workers have long commutes from homes wherever they can find them.
All this while real wages are down, gas and diesel prices are through the roof, and a doctor’s visit, if you can get one, costs so much that people are using the nearest emergency room as their primary care provider and hoping for the best.
So yeah, there’s a lot at stake in this election. The House, Senate, and governor’s races feature candidates who have Donald Trump’s endorsement, Elon Musk’s dollars and the support of billionaires and megacorporations. I don’t belong to a political party, but I sure don’t want the billionaires to think they can have Maine, and it seems these Republican candidates are ready to sell us out for pennies on the dollar. My dad, a lifelong Republican and fiscal conservative, is rolling in his grave.
So far our votes still matter, though. It’s the one thing the wealthy class hasn’t yet managed to take away, and it puts a lot of power in our hands. Voter fatigue is real this year, and it’s getting out of hand with all this advertising, but if all Mainers will make a plan to vote, and follow through, we can send the message that in 2026 the people, the 90%, expect more from our leaders.