Jon Reisman

2026 looks to be a year of consequence for Maine, the U.S., and me personally — elections, weddings, and migrations.

Elections

The Gubernatorial and Senate elections are going to be loud, expensive, and divisive. The division will be generational, geographic, and ideological/partisan. I don’t see a more united Maine or United States as a likely consequence.

The Democratic Senate primary between newcomer socialist Graham Platner and aged climate warrior Janet Mills, to challenge Susan Collins, will command most of the attention and drive Democratic voter turnout in the June primary. Platner and Mills are both 2nd Congressional District residents, but the Democratic Senate primary victor will win with 1st Congressional District votes.

The Platner/Mills contest will have a spillover effect on the Democratic Gubernatorial primary, where similar generational, geographic, and ideological divisions are playing out in a crowded field. I don’t see Platner voters supporting Mills' protege/legacy Hannah Pingree, despite her progressive bona fides and parentage. If Mills prevails in the Senate primary, I expect Hannah will be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee; if Platner prevails, someone else seems likely… perhaps Shenna Bellows.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) will be decisive in both the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries. RCV advocates argued that RCV would reduce divisiveness and negative/attack campaigning as candidates vied for second-choice support. I have my doubts, but we shall see. 

The political advertising in both gubernatorial primaries should be very interesting. Maine’s media should see a very green year, but those expenditures and upcoming campaigns seem more likely to divide the state than unify it.

The November general election midterms will decide the Congressional majorities. Maine’s two House races will not be the main event, as the Senate and Gubernatorial contests will command more money and attention. Incumbent Chellie Pingree and former Governor Paul LePage are the likely victors in the House races. The Senate contest will be the headliner, with Senate control in the balance. 

I expect the Democrats will win control of the House. Speaker Hakeem Jeffries will not be good for freshman Representative Paul LePage’s blood pressure, but his response to the likely inevitable upcoming Trump impeachment should be entertaining .... maybe even apoplectic.

Defeating Susan Collins is one of a few somewhat unlikely paths that lead to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (I wonder how the growing bipartisan antisemitism movement will interpret that).

Huge amounts of national money will be coming into Maine for that end. The Senate race will definitely pit the more affluent and urban coastal 1st Congressional District against the less affluent rural 2nd.

I hope the gubernatorial race becomes a referendum on the disastrous climate and energy policies the Democrats have foisted on Maine. They have raised our electricity prices to disastrous and uncompetitive levels, especially for the less affluent and lower-density 2nd CD. Their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will avert exactly no global warming (sorry, climate change) whatsoever. 

Now the climate warriors are admitting that climate change is not an existential problem after all, but not because their expensive “solutions” were totally ineffective on the climate in addition to being economically damaging, but rather because the Artificial Intelligence lobby requires a tremendous increase in electric power generation.

Weddings

My younger son Avram (Washington Academy ‘08, Colby ’13) is scheduled to marry attorney Veronica Faison in October. Their honeymoon will have to wait till after the November elections. Veronica and Avram are ensconced in the D.C. swamp area, but they came to visit me this past Christmas.

Migrations

My late wife, Ernestine, and I moved into a largely unfinished house on Cathance Lake in Cooper in 1985, where we raised our family and lived our lives. Ernie was the director of the Frank Beckett Center in Calais for Sunrise Opportunities, director of the Washington County Children’s Program, Families First, and finally the Human Resources vice president at Down East Community Hospital. 

Ern’s community and public service more than matched her professor husband’s record, which included an Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative directorship, Cooper Selectboard service, GOP Congressional nominee, and ink-stained political columnist for the Machias Valley News Observer, The Calais Advertiser, and (now shuttered) Down East Coastal Press. 

Ern passed two years ago. I have reluctantly concluded that my continued solitary existence in this house, so full of memories, is unwise and unsustainable. Nothing may happen, but assuming that to be the case is not a plan. Ending 40 years of habitation, family building, and life is not easy.

I have taken steps to sell this house in 2026 and move …. somewhere. I have apartment/houseshare offers in Washington County, and Avram and Veronica want me to move to D.C. I would prefer to remain here in a political environment I feel comfortable in, but we shall see. If you have advice or commentary on my ruminations, please let me know.