Connect with us

Maine

Bush family makes move to reboot dynasty official in Maine

Published

on

Bush family makes move to reboot dynasty official in Maine


Jonathan Bush, the cousin of former President George W. Bush, announced this week he is running for governor in Maine.

Newsweek reached out to Bush’s campaign for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Bush’s campaign will be a key test as to whether there is still room for a more traditional version of conservatism in the Republican party, which has become increasingly dominated by President Donald Trump’s style of politics. In 2022, George P. Bush’s defeat in the Texas attorney general GOP primary was viewed as the potential end of the decades-long political dynasty, but Jonathan Bush’s campaign could give the family an opportunity to reboot its influence over the GOP.

Maine is a Democratic-leaning state that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris by about seven percentage points last November. But it does have an independent streak and has been willing to support moderate Republicans like Senator Susan Collins in the past.

Advertisement

What To Know

Bush, the co-founder of Athenahealth, who has been speculated to be considering a campaign, officially jumped into the race on Wednesday—joining many other Republicans and Democrats hoping to succeed incumbent Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat who cannot run for reelection due to term limits.

“Maine is the greatest place on earth to live and raise a family, but for many Mainers, it’s gotten too hard to achieve the American dream here. We’re paying too much to Augusta and getting too little,” he said in a campaign launch video. “Maine needs big change. I’ve made my career disrupting the status quo, creating jobs and helping people achieve their American dream.”

Bush touted support for auditing the state government, lowering taxes, investing in trade schools, and erasing regulations as ways he would advance Maine’s economy.

Bush has cast himself as a disruptor and problem solver in a state where Republicans typically need to be moderate to win a majority of voters. President Trump will likely loom over the primary and general election—candidates like Bush may need to walk a fine line to win support from Trump-aligned conservatives without alienating moderates in the general election.

Bush is a nephew to former President George H.W. Bush, cousin to former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and grandson to former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush. He has ties to Maine, with the Walker’s Point Estate in Kennebunkport serving as a summer retreat.

Advertisement

Maine politics experts told Newsweek in August that there could be Republicans in Maine who support the idea of a more moderate candidate—and that there could be a path to victory for Bush.

“There are still Republicans in Maine who have fond memories of the Bush family, and some who support an idea of moderate, or at least non-Trumpish, conservatism who could well be open to such a candidate, and there are Republicans who hope to follow Trump’s political path. I don’t think it’s been established yet which faction is stronger,” Ronald Schmidt, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, told Newsweek at the time.

Bush won’t be the only candidate whose family has political ties. Both the son of Senator Angus King, Angus King III, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, are already in the race on the Democratic side.

Several other notable candidates are also running, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson on the Democratic side. Republican candidates include Robert Charles, former U.S. assistant secretary of state, and State Senator James Libby.

Forecasters give Democrats an advantage in the race—the Cook Political Report classifies it as Likely Democratic, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball views it as Lean Democratic.

Advertisement

What People Are Saying

GOP candidate Robert Charles wrote on X: “Our state faces unparalleled chaos thanks to Augusta Democrats, and now has the chance to elect a conservative Governor who will cut crime, cut taxes and end Augusta Democrats’ nonsense. We cannot waste this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix Maine on a divisive, Never-Trump elitist whose entire political identity is built on a hatred for the leader who delivered record jobs, border security, and American First policies.”

Jonathan Bush told WGAN on Friday: “I think Maine’s biggest problem is its economic growth crisis. That it’s just accepted it’s going to be a shrinking pie, and a shrinking pie is no way to live. We’re going to make more pie in Maine, and that’s what I’m going to do as governor.”

What Happens Next

Maine’s primary election is set for June 9, 2026, and the general election for November 3, 2026. Candidates like Bush will spend the coming months making their cases to voters about why they are the best candidate to lead the state of Maine.



Source link

Advertisement

Maine

This Classic New England-Style Cottage in Maine Has 200 Feet of Atlantic Ocean Frontage

Published

on

This Classic New England-Style Cottage in Maine Has 200 Feet of Atlantic Ocean Frontage


A waterfront home with open ocean views on the coast of Maine came to market Tuesday asking $4 million. 

Built in 1978, the three-bedroom cottage is at the southern point of Cape Elizabeth, less than 10 miles from downtown Portland. The 1.1-acre property on Sunny Bank Road features 200 feet of south-facing water frontage on the wide open Atlantic. 

It is bordered by a rocky sea wall that’s about 28 feet high, according to listing agent Sam Michaud Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty

“The views are like a Monet painting,” he said via email. “The water sparkles and the waves are endless.”

Advertisement

MORE: Laid-Back Costa Rica Is Getting a $7 Million Mega-Penthouse

The 3,364-square-foot home was built in classic New England style, with shingle siding, a single sloped roofline and large windows—complemented by white-washed walls, exposed-beam ceilings and wide-plank flooring on the interiors. 

Advertisement – Scroll to Continue

The main common area features cathedral ceilings with a step-down between the living and dining room, and a partial wall divides the dining room from the kitchen. There is also a wood-paneled family room off the kitchen, a gym and a covered porch. 

The sellers purchased the property in 2010 for $1.562 million, according to property records accessed through PropertyShark. They could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Advertisement

“I have received quite a few inquiries since hitting the market two days ago,” Michaud said. “Buyers understand that this is a golden opportunity to own over an acre with 200 feet of bold oceanfront in Cape Elizabeth.”

MORE: Iranian Strikes on Dubai Put the City’s Roaring Real Estate Market to the Test

There are currently just seven three-bedroom homes available for sale in Cape Elizabeth and fewer than five waterfront properties, according to Sotheby’s and Zillow data. It is also the most expensive listing in the town, with another waterfront property on a tiny lot just south of Portland coming in a close second, according to Zillow. 

Michaud sold the former Cape Elizabeth home of Bette Davis this past summer for $13.4 million, the priciest sale on the cape in at least a decade—and even those views can’t compare. They’re “just magical,” he said. 



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Maine

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Published

on

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion


Robert Bryan is a licensed forester from Harpswell and author or co-author of numerous publications on managing forests for wildlife. Paul Larrivee is a licensed forester from New Gloucester who manages both private and public lands, and a former Maine Forest Service forester.

In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a conservation plan and forest management plan as mitigation for impacts from the NECEC transmission corridor that runs from the Quebec border 53 miles to central Maine.

As professional foresters, we were astonished by the lack of scientific credibility in the definition of “mature forest habitat” that was approved by DEP, and the business-as-usual commercial forestry proposed for over 80% of the conservation area.

The DEP’s approval requires NECEC to establish and protect 50,000 acres to be managed for mature-forest wildlife species and wildlife travel corridors along riparian areas and between mature forest habitats. The conservation plan will establish an area adjacent to the new transmission corridor to be protected under a conservation easement held by the state. Under this plan, 50% of the area will be managed as mature forest habitat.

Advertisement

Under the forest management plan, a typical even-aged stand will qualify as “mature forest habitat” once 50 feet tall, which is only about 50 years old. These stands will lack large trees that provide wildlife denning and nesting sites, multiple vegetation layers that mature-forest birds use for nesting and feeding habitats and large decaying trees and downed logs that provide habitat for insects, fungi and small mammals, which in turn benefit larger predators.

Another major concern is that contrary to the earlier DEP order, the final approval allows standard sustainable forestry operations on the 84% of the forest located outside the stream buffers and special habitats. These stands may be harvested as soon as they achieve the “mature forest habitat” definition, as long as 50% of the conserved land is maintained as “mature.”

After the mature forest goal is reached, clearcutting or other heavy harvesting could occur on thousands of acres every 10 years. Because the landowner — Weyerhaeuser — owns several hundred thousand acres in the vicinity, any reductions in harvesting within the conservation area can simply be offset by cutting more heavily nearby. As a result, the net
mature-forest benefit of the conservation area will be close to zero.

Third, because some mature stands will be cut before the 50% mature forest goal is reached, it will take 40 years — longer than necessary — to reach the goal.

In the near future the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will consider an appeal from environmental organizations of the plan approval. To ensure that ecologically mature forest develops in a manner that meets the intent of the DEP/BEP orders, several things need to change.

Advertisement

First and most important, to ensure that characteristics of mature forest habitat have time to develop it is critical that the definition include clear requirements for the minimum number of large-diameter (hence more mature) trees, adjusted by forest type. At least half the stocking of an area of mature forest habitat should be in trees at least 10 inches in diameter, and at least 20% of stands beyond the riparian buffers should have half the stocking in trees greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter.

Current research as well as guidelines for defining ecologically mature forests, such as those in Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds, should be followed.

Second, limits should be placed on the size and distribution of clearcut or “shelterwood” harvest patches so that even-aged harvests are similar in size to those created by typical natural forest disturbance patterns. These changes will help ensure that the mature-forest block and connectivity requirements of the orders are met.

Third, because the forest impacts have already occurred, no cutting should be allowed in the few stands that meet or exceed the DEP-approved definition — which needs to be revised as described above — until the 50% or greater mature-forest goal is reached.

If allowed to stand, the definitions and management described in the forest management plan would set a terrible precedent for conserving mature forests in Maine. The BEP should uphold the appeal and establish standards for truly mature forest habitat.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Maine

Rage Room in Portland, Maine, Developing ‘Scream Room’ Addition

Published

on

Rage Room in Portland, Maine, Developing ‘Scream Room’ Addition


For a lot of people throughout Maine, there’s some built up frustration that they’ve just been keeping inside.

That frustration can come in a lot of different forms. From finances to relationships to the world around you.

So it makes plenty of sense that a rage room opened in Portland, Maine, where people can let some of that frustration out.

It’s called Mayhem and people have been piling in to smash, crush and do dastardly things to inanimate objects that had no idea what was coming.

Advertisement

But Mayhem has realized not everyone is down with swinging a sledgehammer. So they’ve decided to cook up something new.

Mayhem Creating ‘Scream Room’ at Their Space in Portland, Maine

Perhaps the thought of swinging a baseball bat and destroying a glass vase brings you joy. The thought of how sore your body will be after that moment makes you less excited.

Mayhem Portland has heard you loud and clear and is developing a new way to get the rage out. By just screaming.

Mayhem is working on opening their very first scream room. It’s exactly what you think it is, a safe place to spend some time just screaming all of the frustration out.

There isn’t an official opening date set yet but it’s coming soon along with pricing.

Advertisement

Mayhem in Portland, Maine, Will Still Offer Rage Rooms and Paint Splatter

While a scream room is on the way, you can still experience a good time at Mayhem with one of their rage rooms or a paint splatter room.

Both can be experienced in either 20-minute or 30-minute sessions.

All the details including some age and attire requirements can be found here.

TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Things to do in Portland, Maine

Looking for fun things to do in Portland, ME? Here is what the reviewers on TripAdvisor say are the 10 best attractions.

This list was updated in March of 2026

Advertisement

Gallery Credit: Chris Sedenka

Top 15 of The Most Powerful People in Maine

Ever wonder who the most powerful players are in Maine? I’ve got a list!

Gallery Credit: Getty Images





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending