Just Weeks Before The Primary Some Wonder If Maine's King Will Be Deposed

As Maine’s June 11 primaries approach, three new challengers will face off against incumbent independent Angus King, who has yet to formally announce his reelection bid. 

According to the Portland Press Herald, 

“Jason Cherry of Unity has qualified to appear on the fall ballot as an independent candidate, according to the secretary of state’s office… King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is now facing at least three challengers – all of whom are facing steep odds to unseat the popular senator. King’s other challengers are Republican Demi Kouzounas and Democrat David Costello, both of whom are running unopposed in their party primaries.”

Overall, King remains a popular figure in Maine politics. In a recent poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire, 47% of Mainers believe King deserves to be reelected with a sharp divide along party lines. When asked if King deserves re-election, 74% of Democrats say yes while 71% of Republicans say no. 

In his last election in 2018, King won 54% of the vote, comfortably ahead of his Republican and Democratic opponents​. But despite his strong position, he faces potential challenges in the upcoming election. Steve Robinson at the Maine Wire points out, 

“As a Senator, King emerged during the Trump Administration as a lead promoter of the now-debunked conspiracy theory that Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. More recently, King has become a strident advocate of escalating U.S. support for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. King was embroiled in a scandal earlier this year when independent journalist Matt Taibbi revealed, based on internal Twitter documents, that King’s 2018 Senate campaign conspired with Twitter and Facebook to censor social media users who had been critical of his candidacy.”

King's independent rival, former FBI agent and attorney Jason Cherry, plans to push for term and age limits in Congress which some already see as a jab against his octogenarian opponent.