Sierra Club Maine Political Program
Goals:
-
Elect pro-environmental state and national candidates to elected office.
-
Endorse pro-environmental candidates and educate the public about candidates’ environmental positions and voting records.
-
Mobilize our members and supporters to participate in and volunteer for endorsed campaigns.
-
Support good government and clean elections to strengthen our democracy.
Get Involved, Get Ready for 2022!
Sierra Club Maine 2022 Political Endorsements
Support our work by becoming a member today! Members will recieve regular communications about our Political Program.
VOTE on November 8, 2022 for the General Election
Maine's voting districts have been updated, and your district may have changed! You can see detailed maps of new districts here, and you can use your address to look up your district and polling place here.
Ranked-choice v. traditional voting:
- Federal (ranked-choice applies in primaries and general): US House
- State (traditional voting for general, ranked-choice for primaries): House and Senate, Governor
Both absentee and in-person voting will be available. If you are a registered voter, you may apply for an absentee ballot to be sent to you when they become available. Information about voter registration and absentee voting may be found by clicking here. You can also Find your polling place here.
2022 passed ballot initiatives: TBD. See campaign website for more information.
Sierra Club Maine Previous Political Endorsements:
Sierra Club Maine 2020 Political Endorsements/ Rankings
Important Electoral Dates:
May 13-14, 2022 - State Democratic Convention
April 29-30, 2022 - State Republican Convention
June 14, 2022 - Primary Election: State*, Governor*, US House*, Senate District 7 (Special)*
November 8, 2022 - General Election: US House*, Maine State House, Maine State Senate, and Governor
*Ranked Choice Voting will apply.
Ranked-Choice Voting
State legislative and gubernatorial primaries, and US House primaries will use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) this year. Of course, if there is only one candidate, or just two candidates in a race, it is not a factor. In the general election, RCV will be used for both the congressional races (again, where there are three or more candidates). RCV will not be used for the general election for state House, state Senate, and Governor. Maine's constitution says that the general election winner is chosen “by a plurality of the votes.” And the Supreme Court decided that RCV is inconsistent with that language. Please see the State's website for why RCV applies to some races and not all. See more general information about RCV here.
What you can do:
- Vote Early by Absentee Voting: You can order your ballot right online here! You can vote absentee in person at your town hall up until the Friday before Election Day or by mail (ballots must be received before or on Election Day if mailed). You can also bring in your ballot (with envelope!) to a drop box on Election Day in the event you don't have a chance to return it sooner.
- Register on or before Election Day: Mainers can register to vote on Election Day at their local polling place. Bring a photo ID and a piece of mail proving your residence. Maine people worked incredibly hard to restore that right last year so be sure to spread the word!
- Contribute to Clean Election Candidates: Support your clean election candidate, visit the Clean Elections page.
- Make Calls for Your Candidate: Whether you belong to a major party, a minor party or are fiercely independent, help a local candidate who shares your values run for office this year.
- Be a change-maker! Help us drive political change. Contact the Team's Political Chair, Claudia King at maine.chapter@sierraclub.org to find out how you help our Team.
- Write Letters-to-the-Editor.
Sierra Club Maine's 2022 Political Team (TBD):
- Claudia King, Chair
- Paul Weaver, Compliance Officer
- Kris Clark
- Becky Bartovics
- Clifford Krolick
- Anna Siegel
- John Fitzgerald
- Patricia Rubert-Nason
- Ania Wright, Staff support