Janet Mills says she did a good job handling COVID. She’s wrong.

“No matter how you look at it, Janet Mills has failed Mainers during the pandemic’s leadership test,” Maine GOP executive director Jason Savage said. “She failed on the economic front, the education front, the health care front, and on the simple competence front. It’s not an accident that so many Mainers are ready for change – Mills was given the opportunity to lead, and she instead locked the state down, listened to the teacher unions over parents, and made bad decision after bad decision.”

Here are ten pieces of evidence that prove Janet Mills did a bad job handling COVID:

1. Mainers aren’t happy: Mills’ approval rating has fallen 25 percentage points during COVID and now sits well underwater at 42 percent, according to one recent poll.

2. Even Dems disagree with her: Members of Mills’ own party have broken with her COVID policies repeatedly, including party activists at a Hancock County Democrat meeting, pundits like Jeremy Fischer, and legislators like Sen. Ned Claxton, Chloe Maxmin, Craig Hickman, and Dave Miramant.

3. Her mandates killed jobs and hurt health care: Mills’ vaccine mandate led to hundreds of workers leaving nursing homes, hospitals, and group homes during a staffing crisis. It also led to less access to health care for Mainers, including at hospitals like Central Maine Medical Center.

4. The unemployment system collapsed on her watch: Mills’ administration oversaw a massive collapse of Maine’s unemployment system during COVID, and then her administration refused to answer the Legislature’s questions about the problem.

5. Maine saw a record number of drug overdose deaths last year. Addiction experts agree that lockdowns exacerbated drug use.

6. Her COVID-era economic policies have deeply hurt Mainers’ wallets. Health insurance costs are up $600 per person per year due to Mills’ policies — according to her own administration. Electricity costs have skyrocketed in Maine due to Mills’ energy policies — according to her own political appointees.

7. Horror at nursing/group homes: Maine had the highest nursing home COVID death rate of any US state over a period last year. In addition, many nursing and group homes have closed or limited services due to Mills’ vaccine mandate exacerbating staffing issues.

8. Her school lockdowns hurt kids. Mills locked down the state’s schools. It’s widely accepted that the teacher union-driven school lockdowns hurt kids’ education and mental health.

9. Is the Mills administration lying, or incompetent? Mills’ administration told the press that there were no COVID-positive health care workers in Maine hospitals…while news reporters verified that there were COVID-positive workers in Maine hospitals.

10: Speaking of incompetent: The Mills administration’s COVID testing backlog was so big that our case count was artificially low, which means Maine had less access to lifesaving medication from federal government allocations than it should have had.

And here’s a truly infuriating bonus:

11. Mills unilaterally delayed desperately needed dental care longer than almost every other state:15 of 16 counties have been designated as dental health care shortage areas, but Maine was one of the last states in the country to allow dental clinics to reopen.

The Boston Globe just reported on a poll that found Janet Mills’ approval rating is well below water at 42 percent.

The same poll found Joe Biden’s approval rating with Mainers to be a dismal 32 percent.

These numbers represent a significant drop in approval rating for both politicians.

In April 2020, Mills was at 67 and Biden was at 46 percent in the same poll.

In April 2021, Mills was at 56 and Biden was at 57 percent in the same poll.

Both Mills and Biden have earned a 25 percentage point drop in Mainers’ approval over the course of this poll.

Ouch.

Full survey here.

A new report has found that Maine trails only Minnesota and Washington in the percentage of long-term care facilities reporting staffing shortages nationwide.

Janet Mills’ vaccine mandate deeply hurt Maine seniors and deeply damaged our health care system. She chose to make this situation worse, as the Press Herald documented at the time her mandate went into effect.

Today, the RSLC released a video about the pet food tax hike that Augusta Democrats passed.

There are a number of Democrats who voted for this tax hike that are running for office again.

Democrat Senate candidates who voted for the pet food tax hike:
Troy Jackson

Nicole Grohoski

Joe Baldacci

Chip Curry

Pinny Beebe-Center

Craig Hickman

Eloise Vitelli

Teresa Pierce

Ben Chipman

Anne Carney

Stacy Brenner

Donna Bailey

Mark Lawrence

Democrat House candidates who voted for the pet food tax hike:

David McCrea

Anne Perry

Lynne Williams

Kevin O’Connell

Barbara Cardone

Laura Supica

Amy Roeder

Joe Perry

Laurie Osher

Jim Dill

Richard Evans

Janice Dodge

Stanley Ziegler

Vicky Doudera

Valli Geiger

Ann Matlack

Sean Paulhus

Seth Berry

Tavis Hasenfus

Reagan LaRochelle

Colleen Madigan

Bruce White

Jessica Fay

Margaret Craven

Kristen Cloutier

Maureen Terry

Jim Boyle

Stephen Moriarty

Ed Crockett

Grayson Lookner

Ben Collings

Michael Brennan

Sam Zager

Rachel Talbot Ross

Victoria Morales

Christopher Kessler

Lois Reckitt

Sophia Warren

Morgan Rielly

Suzanne Salisbury

Maggie O’Neil

Lynn Copeland

Lori Gramlich

Eric Sheehan

Traci Gere

Tiffany Roberts

Michele Meyer

The Maine Democrats’ Pet Food Tax Hike bill has been recalled from Gov. Mills’ desk by legislative Democrats. Word is that the Democrats’ intent at this point is to strip out the tax hike provision…after almost every Democrat in the Legislature voted for the tax hike. Must be an election year.

Note: Gov. Mills has still not weighed in on whether she supports the tax hike or not. It’s almost like the Democrats are protecting her from having to weigh in on the tax hike. Recalling a Legislature-passed bill from the Governor’s desk is a very rare procedural move. Of course, legislative Democrats continue to push other costly policies (more on that soon!)
“For many Mainers, their pet is a rare bright spot in a tough day full of high gas prices, grocery costs, and many other stresses that Democrats have had a hand in causing,” Maine GOP executive director Jason Savage said. “Nearly every Democrat in the Legislature voted to make it more expensive for Mainers to own pets, so we know where they stand. But where does Janet Mills stand? Her party is protecting her from signing this tax hike, but she should still be forthright with voters about her position. Given the number of other cost increases she’s passed, including on health care and energy, we assume she would support this bill as well.”

Here’s today’s supplemental legislative calendar item recalling the bill from the Governor’s desk:

PORTLAND — The Maine Republican Party today held a Grand Opening for its new Multi-Cultural Center on Munjoy Hill in Portland. The packed event featured a series of speakers focused on improving Maine.

“This is about people working to improve their community and country and the resonance of Republican values like freedom across our great state,” Maine GOP Chair Dr. Demi Kouzounas said. “We’re opening this center because we want to help people from all walks of life to prosper and learn. Our goal as Republicans is to build a better, stronger Maine and we appreciate all the people who have signed up to help us. We will be working together here in Portland and across the state to make Maine a better place.”

Speakers included:

• Governor Paul LePage
• Maine GOP Chair Dr. Demi Kouzounas
• Ed Thelander, Republican nominee for Congress (ME-01)
• Suheir Alaskari, Chair MEGOP Multi-Cultural Center
• Aqeel Mohialdeen, Vice-Chair MEGOP Multi-Cultural Center
• Ray Richardson, Emcee

The Center is a volunteer-driven effort created by folks who are energized about reaching new communities to assist them and show them that the GOP is an active force for positive change in their communities. The Center will provide educational opportunities both in political training to amplify their voices within the community, but also assistance with job training, immigration assistance, language training, and much more.

The chair of the Center, Suheir Alaskari, was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. She worked with US government projects in Baghdad and moved to Maine in 2014. She studied in Sweden and France, and settled down in Portland in 2017. Suheir has a Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Economy, and a Master’s Degree of Policy, Planning and Management from Muskie School of Public Service/ USM in Maine. She is certified as a Human Rights Consultant. Suheir teaches immigrant women during weekends on self-empowerment and career development with the team of the Charting Your Course Program, and she is a member of the City of Portland’s Office of Economic Opportunity advisory council.

Suheir lives in Portland.

The vice-chair, Aqeel Mohialdeen, is originally from Baghdad, Iraq. In 2010, he came to the United States as an immigrant. Aqeel was awarded a special immigrant visa for his outstanding and faithful work for the U.S. government development projects in Iraq (USAID). In 1999, after obtaining his bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Baghdad, he worked in many fields as a graphic designer, a photographer, a journalist, a documentary filmmaker, and an outreach and multimedia specialist. In 2021, Aqeel earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern Maine.

Currently, Aqeel works for Preble Street as a caseworker, a volunteer with the League of Women Voters of Maine, a freelance graphic designer, and a marketing/ communication consultant for microfinance projects overseas.

To get involved with the Center or any other Maine GOP efforts, visit MaineGOP.com.

Janet Mills is telling Mainers that the state’s economy is in good shape and on the right track, according to the Portland Press Herald.

What planet is she on? Maine families are falling behind.

They’re facing higher electricity bills and heating costs while gas prices and grocery bills are rising at terrifying rates. And Maine families know that, which makes Mills’ rosy claims even stranger.

If Janet Mills thinks Maine’s economy is in good shape, she clearly hasn’t spoken to a person in the real world for a long time.

A new statistic says inflation will cost American families an extra $5,200 this year. That’s $100 per week, which is a heck of a lot of money for working families.

Of course, Mills’ own administration says her health insurance and energy policies are making life more expensive for Mainers too.

Gov. Mills is clearly out of touch with Maine economic reality.

She may be running for re-election, but that doesn’t mean she can say the sky is green when it’s really blue.

Mainers living in reality know Janet’s on another planet right now.

You can’t make it up.

The Maine House Democrats just passed a pet food tax hike.

They did this despite the fact that just about everything is ridiculously expensive right now, in part because of Democrat policies.

“Inflation is at record highs and Mainers are struggling, so it’s really heartless that Augusta Democrats have voted to make it more expensive to have a family pet,” Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party said. “There are many Maine families for whom their pet serves as a rare bright spot during a tough day. Yet Democrats want to make owning a pet more expensive. Mainers should vote to stop this callousness in November by supporting Republican legislative candidates.”

The bill, an amended version of LD 1744, would hike up the cost of selling pet food in the state. That means Mainers will pay more to feed their pets.

Over the past few days, we’ve shown you evidence that plenty of Democrats have disagreed with facets of Janet Mills’ failed COVID policies.

Here’s more evidence.

Remember when 3 liberal Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to end Mills’ COVID state of emergency?

“Janet Mills has failed Maine when it comes to COVID, and even liberal Democrats have opposed her policies,” Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage said. “Mainers are in a worse position today than they should be simply because Janet Mills failed so badly.”

Janet Mills has failed on COVID.

Don’t just take it from us — take it from the Democrats who have opposed elements of her COVID response.

Janet Mills says she did a good job handling the COVID pandemic. She’s wrong, and yesterday we sent you examples of Democrat party activists in Hancock County (the exact people who should most support her) criticizing her for her COVID failures.

Today, we’d like to remind you that her COVID initiatives have faced opposition from other members of her own party as well.

For example, Auburn Senator Dr. Ned Claxton, a Democrat who ran Central Maine Medical Center’s family residency program for 8 years, opposed Gov. Mills’ vaccine mandate policy due to its impact on CMMC staffing levels. CMMC was forced to limit health care access because it lost so many employees due to Mills’ mandate.

From the Bangor Daily News:

Maine Senate Minority Leader Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, and Sen. Ned Claxton, D-Auburn, who were on a Friday call with hospital leaders, said members of the regional delegation are planning to petition Mills to consider a testing option for unvaccinated workers and to explore ways to provide aid to the hospital ahead of the deadline.”

“There have been rare instances where a patient has picked up COVID from hospitals, thanks to the safety precautions staff take,” Claxton said. “If everyone is wearing face shields and gowns, do we really need to be pushing the mandate so hard?”

Of course, not long after Claxton’s comments and the CMMC health care access problem, Mills started allowing COVID-positive health care workers into Maine facilities because the staffing situation she caused was so bad. And later, the Mills administration lied about it. It doesn’t take a PhD to see that Mills’ vaccine policy failed.

More examples to come.

Janet Mills’s handling of COVID hurt Mainers. And members of her own party agree with us.