Maine

Why overdose deaths are declining in Maine

Published

1 year ago

December 21, 2024

Why overdose deaths are declining in Maine

Maine is set to close out 2024 as a year that saw a continued decline in drug overdose deaths. But while the top official responsible for coordinating the state’s response to the opioid crisis is glad to see the trend, he’s not celebrating.

That’s because the approximately 500 total overdose deaths projected for this year is still far too high, Gordon Smith, Maine’s director of opioid response, said in an interview.

“One death is too many, but 500 is a catastrophe. It’s simply better than 720 [in 2022],” he said, referring to the year when Maine saw its greatest number of overdose deaths.

Across Maine, 405 people died after overdosing between January and October, according to the Maine Drug Data Hub. That official count represents a 20 percent decrease compared with the same time period in 2023. It continues the decline first seen in 2023, when fatal overdoses decreased 16 percent compared with 2022.

The reasons for the decline are not truly known, Smith said, but it is probably at least partially due to the decreasing potency of fentanyl, a powerful manmade opioid that is the most frequent cause of death. There are also more services in Maine to help people with an addiction to opioids than in the past.

The Bangor Daily News spoke with Smith about the changes he has seen since his position in state government was created in 2019, after fentanyl turned Maine’s ongoing opioid crisis even more deadly. From distributing hundreds of thousands of doses of overdose-reversing naloxone, to training more than 2,000 people as peer recovery coaches, to expanding access to treatment, Maine has significantly boosted help for people who need it, Smith said.

For instance, more than 5,000 people are currently receiving methadone, the most ever, Smith said. Providers in Maine are also prescribing a record 16,000 to 20,000 people with buprenorphine, another medication for opioid use disorder. While people can have success with an abstinence-based approach to treatment, he said, medications such as methadone and buprenorphine have been shown to increase people’s odds of staying in long-term recovery.

The following Q&A has been condensed:

Gordon Smith, state of Maine: I think one of the reasons that this is all going better now is that so many people are willing to take some help medically, and we’ve really encouraged the medical community to step up and make that available in all the primary care practices, in all the emergency departments — low-barrier access to buprenorphine. We’re only down to three to five [predominantly small, rural] emergency departments in Maine that aren’t ready to do that, and we’re working with them to make sure that they do get ready to do it.

Erin Rhoda, BDN: I don’t know that any ERs a number of years ago were prescribing buprenorphine. Is that right?

Smith: None were.

You’re recalling, in Executive Order 2, which established my position in February of 2019 … we said the first thing I’m going to do is buy 35,000 doses of naloxone. … Now it’s truly the thing that’s making the biggest difference in keeping people alive. The data in [the state’s monthly overdose report] is startling: 95 percent of people that overdose in Maine today are surviving their overdose. That’s remarkable. …

The second thing we said in that executive order, after we purchased 35,000 doses of naloxone, was we were going to ask every emergency department to have low-barrier access available to buprenorphine, to any patient that came in after an overdose or was otherwise struggling with substances. …

One of my favorite things in that executive order was we asked every prison and facility and every jail to make sure that people who had a substance use disorder were treated for their illness and had medication available, meaning buprenorphine generally.

Because it’s just stunning, as a health care lawyer, that in 2019, two decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act, that people with substance use disorder were not treated when they were incarcerated. And that’s still true in the majority of carceral settings in this country. …

Almost 50 percent of the [inmates in Maine’s prison system] are on medication for substance use disorder. Which sounds like an insane amount except we know that 70 or 80 percent of them have a substance use disorder. In many of the jails also the numbers are up around 50 percent, sometimes more.

Rhoda: Are all jails now offering treatment?

Smith: They’re all offering treatment. They’re all offering medication. They’re not necessarily all offering the injectable version of buprenorphine. The goal would be to offer all [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] approved products for substance use disorder and in all of their versions — injectable, film, pills, whichever works for that particular resident of the jail, but almost no jail or facility at this point is able to offer all those versions.

Rhoda: [The jails offering medication] seems like a huge change.

Smith: There’s not a single facility, Erin, that is where we’d like to have them right now, but they’re all way, way better than it was. The reason that they’re not further along is really resources. … We’ve made some more state money available to them. The governor did $4 million in the last budget, more money for the jails for these purposes, but it really is an issue of resources.

And you know, in the grand scheme of things I’d really prefer to not see people with substance use disorder in jail. I’d like to see a lot more diversion. …. The treatment courts are trucking along. We’ve got one in … every county except Aroostook County, and we’ve got a great plan up there that Todd Collins, [the district attorney], and a whole bunch of people worked on, but we need $750,000 a year to do it, and nobody has come up with that money. So we’ll try again.

Rhoda: I also remember when there were no detox beds [at facilities that medically supervise people through the acute stages of withdrawal].

Smith: We now have about 120, 130 detox beds because we’ve also been successful in getting the private places to open some beds to MaineCare, like Pine Tree in Portland and Libby Bay. We’ve got 10 beautiful Wabanaki beds [in Bangor] … but they’re not full. I think part of it is communicating to people who might need those beds that they’re not just for Indigenous Mainers, number one, and that they’re open for business.

Rhoda: When it comes to the overdose death rates, are you seeing really big declines in certain areas? Where in Maine have you seen the biggest declines?

Smith: Actually in Portland. It has not been uniform across the state. There are some counties that will see more deaths this year than last year. They tend to be smaller numbers, but still. …

We’ve seen the biggest decline really in the urban areas, and we’ve not done as well in reducing overdoses in some of the rural areas. We need to do a better job there. Some of it is hard to address. It takes a long time to get an ambulance out to Springfield, Maine, 20 miles east of Lincoln, right? Fentanyl acts very quickly. Too many people use alone. Why do they use alone? There’s a lot of shame and stigma associated with it.

Rhoda: Stimulants are continuing to increase as a cause of death in combination with other drugs like fentanyl. What do you make of that, why that’s happening?

Smith: I don’t think anybody knows. Not a week goes by that we’re not on some webinar with our federal partners and national people; we get together with our New England group all the time, we talk about these things. Nobody really knows. People don’t even know why the death rate is declining. We speculate.

There’s a North Carolina drug lab run by Dr. [Nabarun] Dasgupta. He posited eight different theories [for the decline in overdose deaths]. They all made sense to me: more naloxone, more treatment available. …

Now xylazine [a sedative added to fentanyl that is not as lethal] is a factor. We’re up to 14 to 16 percent xylazine. Oddly enough it might be some of these fillers that are helping to keep people alive. It’s still doing really bad things to them, you know, but they don’t die.

Rhoda: With xylazine, that’s a relatively new thing. Do you think that that filler is playing a role in the declining number of deaths?

Smith: It is one of the things that the researchers are speculating that may be part of why fewer people are dying. …

The fact is that nationwide we’ve seen a 10 to 12 percent decline, and not every state is doing what we’re doing, right? In some of the New England states, probably New Hampshire and Maine have seen the sharpest declines. But every state has seen some improvement. So it’s more than just what we’re doing.

Rhoda: Where does Maine stand exactly in its decrease of opioid deaths relative to the nation? We are falling faster?

Smith: Yes, but we were also higher to start with. We started from a pretty bad place in 2018, 2019. And so we’re coming down now towards the middle.

Rhoda: I’ve been reading about the declining toxicity of fentanyl. The fentanyl on the street is becoming weaker. Is that happening in Maine?

Smith: Probably. We don’t necessarily have enough drug checking and drug testing to know that. … It’s funny because we used to talk about fentanyl adultering everything else; now people want fentanyl, and it’s being adulterated with everything from xylazine to other fillers, including cocaine and meth.

So, again, we don’t have the sophisticated kind of drug-checking apparatus. We’ve got four new drug-checking machines that are just starting to be used. There’s one in Machias, one in Sanford, as part of Project DHARMA. It’s a federal grant run out of the Maine Medical Center. …

The whole idea is we’re going to start testing residual amounts of drugs — in syringes usually — at various sites around the state and then get that to the Colby drug lab and see what’s in these drugs. That will give us maybe a head start on what kind of drug policies we need in the state in reaction to that. So it’s possible in a year or two when you ask me the question about the strength of the fentanyl that I’d have actually good chemistry to answer that question, but it’s just starting.

Rhoda: What do you think next year will bring?

Smith: I don’t think we need a lot of new initiatives, but I think we need to put more resources into all the things we’re doing. We had one crisis receiving center [to help people with a range of mental health or substance use challenges]. Now we’re going to have five. We had three McAulay houses [for women in recovery and their children]. Now we’re going to have seven. We’ve got 1,000 recovery beds [at about 100 recovery residences]. We need probably 200 more in rural areas.

We need to just keep doing what we’re doing, lower the stigma, let people know we care about them, give them hope, and make sure when they’re ready today that we’ve got a bed for them, or an outpatient facility, whatever they need. That’s my hope.

Rhoda: A final note here: What do you want families to do if they have a loved one with addiction? If they’re reading this and they think, I really need to do something, what is your advice?

Smith: There are support groups for family members. We have 24 recovery community centers now. Call 211. Don’t suffer in silence alone, and don’t give up on your loved one.

Erin Rhoda is the editor of Maine Focus and may be reached at erhoda@bangordailynews.com.

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Maine

A Maine couple known for restoring cabins on TV is opening an inn of their own – The Boston Globe

Published

2 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Press Room

A Maine couple known for restoring cabins on TV is opening an inn of their own – The Boston Globe

But something about it felt right. When the former bed-and-breakfast and historic estate in Monmouth lingered on the market, and its price dropped, curiosity turned into a walk-through, and the walk-through into something more.

“It was built super well, built to last,” Sarah says. “The spirit of the place is amazing. We just kind of fell in love with it.”

Now, after months of renovation, the Morrills are preparing to open Waters Run Bed and Breakfast this July — a 12-room property (including newly built cabins) that blends farmhouse charm with what Sarah describes as “rustic luxury,” and a broader mission: inviting travelers to experience a different side of Maine.

Chase and Sarah Morrill, who purchased the property in 2025.HANDOUT

Hospitality wasn’t an obvious next step. But travel has always been a big part of family life for Sarah, Chase and their four kids.

“We’re inspired by travel,” Sarah says. “And having a place where we could now welcome people in their own travels felt full circle.”

Unlike their television work, which often focuses on seasonal camps and cabins, this project required a deeper, more comprehensive transformation. The existing structure was sound, but time had left its mark.

“Not a single room in the existing structure has really been totally untouched,” Sarah says.

The updates range from behind-the-scenes essentials — electrical and plumbing — to reimagined layouts that prioritize comfort, like expanding bathrooms and reworking awkward room footprints.

They also added five new guest rooms between three standalone cabins and converted a former caretaker’s apartment into a commercial kitchen, allowing for expanded dining and future events.

Even as they modernized the property, the Morrills were careful not to erase its character.

A room at Waters Run Bed & Breakfast in Monmouth, Maine.HANDOUT

“I think we tried to preserve every last thing that we could,” Sarah says.

That includes original fireplaces (now decorative), a vintage kitchen believed to have come from a Sears catalog, and even long-hidden elements of the landscape. Beneath overgrowth, they uncovered stone pathways and garden beds they plan to restore.

The philosophy aligns with the ethos fans have come to expect: save what you can, reuse what you can’t, and find new purpose for the rest.

Local sourcing plays a central role. Throughout the property, guests will find work from Maine artisans and craftspeople — a deliberate choice that reflects both aesthetics and values.

“It’s been really fun,” she says. “We’ve met a lot of people who make cool stuff that looks like it just belongs in our bed and breakfast.”

When guests arrive, the Morrills hope the guests feel an immediate connection when walking through the doors.

Outside Waters Run Bed & Breakfast in Monmouth, Maine.HANDOUT

“You finally get there, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, this is where we were supposed to go,’” she says.

Breakfast, prepared by an in-house chef, will lean heavily on local ingredients like eggs, meats, cheeses, and produce sourced from nearby farms, often within a 10-mile radius with a rotating menu that reflects the region.

On the property, guests will find gardens, fire pits, lawn games, and access to nearby water for kayaking and paddleboarding. A historic barn that was once used as a harness racing training facility is slated to become an event space by 2027.

For New England travelers accustomed to heading straight for the coast, Monmouth might not be the first place that comes to mind. That, Sarah believes, is part of the appeal.

“We’re not in a specifically touristy area,” she says. “But there’s a huge opportunity to have the space to discover what’s cool about Maine — and you’re not standing in line.”

A view from Waters Run Bed & Breakfast.HANDOUT

Within a short drive are lakes in nearly every direction, hiking trails, small restaurants, antique shops, working farms, and Kennebec Cabin Company, the gift shop known as “Home of the Maine Cabin Masters.” The coast is still within reach, but it’s not the main event.

“If you can go for a hike and then go for a swim and then get a great meal,” she says, “that’s a great day.”

It’s a vision of Maine that expands beyond the familiar imagery of lobster rolls and lighthouses.

“I think there’s another whole dimension of Maine,” Sarah says. “The lakes and mountains and being outside, but also the artisans and craftspeople who are doing really cool stuff.”

A sunset at Waters Run Bed & Breakfast in Monmouth, Maine.HANDOUT

Sarah’s hope is that travelers feel like they are seeing something they’ve never seen before, or connecting to Maine in a deeper way.

As reservations begin to fill — helped in part by a loyal fan base — the Morrills are preparing for their first full season. While the project may have started as an unexpected opportunity, its direction now feels clear.

“I’m looking forward to meeting the people who are looking for something different,” Sarah says. “Who want to start and end their day a little bit off the beaten path.”

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Maine

Maine Trash Kings turns clutter into cash across Searsport

Published

15 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Maine Trash Kings turns clutter into cash across Searsport

SEARSPORT, Maine (WABI) – A new Searsport business sees other people’s trash as an opportunity.

Maine Trash Kings got its start at the beginning of April, and with spring cleaning underway, the founders say the business is booming.

“It’s been really good, we started at the beginning of this month, and we just started posting around on Facebook ads and word of mouth. It’s gone really good, just kind of blown up from there,” Alex Dakin, co-founder of Maine Trash Kings, said.

Maine Trash Kings is run by two Searsport High School students. They both say they’ve had to learn how to balance time quickly.

“When we don’t have jobs or something like that, after schools, I get an hour, two hours to myself, but then, I got to post ads. I got to, look at finances, go over that, fix the trailer, work on the trailer and stuff like that,” Isaac Traves, co-founder of Maine Trash Kings, said.

“It can be stressful at times, but you just got to look at the bigger picture and know that all the work you’re putting in now is just going to pay off in the future,” Dakin said.

Traves said he wants to go to college for business in the future. The junior in high school said the business has given him a head start on finances.

“Sometimes there are instances where we have to spend money to make money, and it is scary at first. Some people think oh, I’m going to spend money, that means that I’m going to lose all of that. I’m not going to make that money back. No, it’s not really how it works. You have to spend money to make money, to be honest,” Traves said.

Traves and Dakin’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Derek Ginn is a teacher at Searsport Middle School. Ginn said the boys came to him and asked if he could help them get the business started.

“It’s really great to see kids who, 16, 17, starting life not knowing exactly what they want to do, to see, hey, maybe I want to start a business. Let me see if I can fail. Let me see if I can succeed. Let’s see what’s out there,” Ginn said. “These guys did that all on their own. I’m not saying, you guys should go start this business. You guys should go start this business. No, they came to me and are like, hey, how do I do this? And that’s incredible to see for kids their age.”

Ginn said the boys also help him with his students. They serve as mentors to the younger students in the school. Ginn said that’s how he got to know Traves and Dakin.

The young business owners said they are giving the business everything they’ve got. So far, they say they love the work.

“I like working and I actually quit my job to do this full-time now, so I mean, just putting all my effort into this and seeing it grow is just, I love it,” Dakin said.

Maine Trash Kings serves Searsport and surrounding areas.

They give quotes via their Facebook page or by calling 207-323-6984 for junk removal.

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Maine

A top issue in Maine and Oklahoma governors’ races? Tribal sovereignty. – ICT

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

A top issue in Maine and Oklahoma governors’ races? Tribal sovereignty. – ICT

This story is part one of a two-part story on gubernatorial races to watch in the 2026 midterm elections as part of the #NativeVote26.

Pauly Denetclaw
ICT

Two of the 39 states with gubernatorial races have tribal sovereignty at the top of their policy agendas: Oklahoma and Maine. The two states where tribal nations have had friction with their state governments. Now Native voters in both states will be electing a new governor, and the results will impact the relationship between tribal governments and the state for the next four years.

Wabanaki Nations in Maine had a challenging time getting state legislation signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills, Democrat, that would strengthen tribal sovereignty. The 38 tribes in Oklahoma had a tumultuous relationship with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Eighteen of the 39 governor races in 2026 will have incumbent candidates, according to the National Governors Association. Stitt is the 2025-2026 chair of the association.

What’s happening in Oklahoma?

Over the past seven years, tribal nations and the state of Oklahoma had a contentious relationship — especially after the McGirt decision. Current governor, Stitt, who is a Cherokee Nation citizen, has been outspoken against the McGirt decision, tribal compacts for tobacco and car tags, and tribal gaming compacts.

Tribal-state compacts are legal agreements between federally recognized tribes and state governments. It is most commonly used for class III gaming — slot machines and table games.

“There was a time and a day when we used to compact with the tribes. That is not a unique thing across the nation. It wasn’t a unique thing in Oklahoma,” Chip Keating said during an April 6 candidates forum. “We absolutely have to hit the full reset button with the tribes — work together, treat them with the respect that they should have been treated with, and we’ve got to get back to compacting.”

Tribal leaders are looking forward to new state leadership, said Michael Stopp, president and chief executive officer of SevenStar Holdings.

“It’s good for the tribes and the tribal leaders are happy about it,” said Stopp, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. “It has very much been a sticking point with tribal leaders that Governor Stitt has a very different perspective on sovereignty and what role the tribes play in this state. Obviously, we’ve had some big changes with the reservation status here because of the McGirt decision in 2020, but Governor Stitt, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, has been more of an antagonist when it comes to that, than trying to help with the transition. I can definitely say the tribal leaders are looking for leadership change.”

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin called Stitt the most anti-Indian governor in the state’s history. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond described Stitt as having a “penchant of racism against tribes,” during an April candidates forum. He added that it was unacceptable.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is pictured during an interview in his office Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole has recommended clemency for death row inmate James Coddington. Stitt said that he hasn’t been formally briefed on Coddington’s case, but that with any clemency recommendation, he meets with prosecutors, defense attorneys and the victim’s family before making a decision. (AP Photo, Sue Ogrocki) Credit: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is pictured during an interview in his office Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole has recommended clemency for death row inmate James Coddington. Stitt said that he hasn’t been formally briefed on Coddington’s case, but that with any clemency recommendation, he meets with prosecutors, defense attorneys and the victim’s family before making a decision. (AP Photo, Sue Ogrocki)

Tribal nations and state governments have to work together often. As seen in Oklahoma, Stitt vetoed several tribal compacts, despite overwhelming support by the state’s legislature, and this slowed the process for establishing the tobacco, car tag and gaming compacts between Oklahoma and tribal nations.

“Governor Stitt came in thinking that he could renegotiate this contract, and quite frankly, it just doesn’t work that way. Instead of listening and coming to the negotiating table, (Stitt) tried to come in with a really strong stance and ended up losing, honestly,” Stopp said. “I think that was unfortunate for him and for the tribes. Again, missing out on the chance of negotiating and I think the tribal leaders are definitely looking forward to having someone on the other side of the table to negotiate with.”

Oklahoma governor candidates

There are nine Republican candidates on the ballot for Oklahoma’s primary election set for June 16:

Gentner Drummond: 20th Attorney General for Oklahoma
Chip Keating: Former highway trooper and former Oklahoma Secretary of Public Safety
Mike Mazzei: Former Oklahoma state Senator and former Secretary of Budget
Charles McCall: Longest-serving Speaker of the House in Oklahoma history
Jake Merrick: Local radio host and former Oklahoma state Senator
Kenneth Sturgell: Local, small business owner
Leisa Mitchell Haynes: Former marketing director and former city manager
Calup Anthony Taylor
Jennifer Domenico-Tillett

Three Democratic gubernatorial candidates are also running for the primary election:

Cyndi Munson: Oklahoma House Minority leader
Connie Johnson: Former Oklahoma state Senator
Arya

Candidates will have to get more than 50 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff. If there is no outright winner, the top two candidates for each political party will head to a primary runoff election on August 25.

An additional three Independent candidates will automatically head to the general election this November.

Two important issues this election in Oklahoma are tribal sovereignty and a commitment to working with tribes.

During an April 6 Republican candidates forum, Gentner Drummond, Charles McCall, Chip Keating and Mike Mazzei, were asked to raise their hand if they shared Stitt’s perspective on the McGirt decision. Stitt was quoted as saying that the McGirt decision has torn Oklahoma apart and has created two justice systems based on race. None of the four candidates raised their hand.

“For three and a half years I’ve been working with every tribal leader in the state of Oklahoma, and I recognize them as unique among themselves, just like France is different from Germany,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said during a candidates forum. “We have to honor and respect the culture of diversity that they bring to the table and the needs that they have. We have been working with tribal law enforcement each of the last three years to take the fight to organize crime in our rural communities. They are a great partner.”

All four candidates promised their administration would work with tribal nations and negotiate tribal compacts.

Mazzei said at two different candidate forums that he would be a strong negotiator with tribal nations.

In a recent interview with KOCO 5 News, local small business owner Kenneth Sturgell said tribal nations are their neighbors and should be treated as such. He also said that the state and tribal nations have to work together.

Jake Merrick, local radio host and former Oklahoma state Senator, was pleased that the state Supreme Court affirmed tribal nations’ right to hunt on their own lands, during a March 30 candidates forum.

Democratic candidate Cyndi Munson, Oklahoma House Minority leader, said in a recent press release that her caucus supports tribes.

“The Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus supports tribal sovereignty and acknowledges that our tribes fill important gaps in our education and healthcare systems, as well as other areas throughout our state,” Munson said. “I am extremely grateful for the work our tribes have done and continue to do despite vicious attacks on them by the Governor.”

A respectful working relationship between tribal nations and the state has shifted significantly since the last gubernatorial race in 2022.

“I think every one of them [Oklahoma governor candidates] has said something about it,” Stopp said. “[It’s] different than four years ago. It was an issue in the governor’s race, but it wasn’t a good issue. Here everyone’s saying yes, we want to change the tone and start the conversation differently. So I think as far as Indian voters go, that conversation is going to change regardless of who wins.”

Dawnland

In Maine, Gov. Mills repeatedly refused to sign a law that would strengthen tribal jurisdiction and recognize Wabanaki Nations right to access federal Indian laws. She vetoed the bill twice despite overwhelming support from state legislators.

“We’ve had multiple opportunities to send [legislation] to the governor’s desk and not just party line votes,” said Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and former Penobscot ambassador. “We generally have Democratic support, but we have gotten Republicans voting on these issues too. So, the governor has seen some great bipartisan work reach her desk and has still decided to veto some of these efforts.”

In order for tribes to access federal Indian laws, the state has to approve it. The Wabanaki Alliance, created to educate the people of Maine about tribal sovereignty, has been working diligently to amend the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Through the settlement, tribal nations ceded land in exchange for $81.5 million. However, it also drastically limited tribal sovereignty, and brought tribes under the jurisdiction of the state. Tribal nations that predate the state, are subjected to state jurisdiction and treated more like municipalities. The act was meant to be a living document but the state resisted changes for decades.

The Wabanaki Alliance has been able to increase tribal sovereignty and self-governance one legislation or amendment at a time. Throughout her two-terms, Mills has resisted a complete overhaul of the 1980 act and this created tension between the governor and tribal nations.

“If we had a governor that came in and fully embraced the inherent rights and inherent sovereignty of our people, and fully recognized that, it would strengthen our communities and it would also uplift the entire state of Maine,” said Bryant, who is Penobscot. “Our tribal communities are near rural places that could really use economic opportunities and could really use tribal businesses that are able to grow without all of these bureaucratic restrictions. We really are coming from a place of friendliness and we want to be good neighbors and we want to uplift the communities around us.”

The Wabanaki Alliance held a gubernatorial candidates forum in March where nine governor candidates participated:

Shenna Bellows, Democrat
Rick Bennett, Independent
John Glowa, Independent
Troy Jackson, Democrat
Derek Levasseur, Independent
Hannah Pingree, Democrat
Nirav Shah, Democrat
Angus King III, Democrat

None of the eight Republican candidates participated.

Most of the gubernatorial candidates generally supported increasing tribal sovereignty, recognizing inherent rights and working with tribal nations. Angus King III said he wasn’t educated on the topic enough to make any commitments and would have to look into it. This sentiment was shared by John Glowa and Derek Levasseur.

Hannah Pingree, Rick Bennett, Shenna Bellows and Troy Jackson firmly supported tribal sovereignty for Wabanaki Nations.

“If a governor comes in, and isn’t afraid of recognizing tribal sovereignty and sees it as an opportunity, I think we could see some real progress for everyone,” Bryant said.

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