Maine Democratic Party
|
|
---|---|
Chairman | Phil Bartlett |
Senate leadership | Troy Jackson (Minority leader) |
House leadership | Sara Gideon (Speaker of the House) |
Headquarters | Augusta, Maine |
Ideology |
Liberalism Progressivism Social liberalism |
National affiliation | Democratic Party |
Colors | Blue |
Seats in the US Senate |
0 / 2
|
Seats in the US House |
1 / 2
|
Seats in the Maine Senate |
17 / 35
|
Seats in the Maine House |
77 / 151
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Maine Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the US state of Maine.
The organizational structure of the party consists of party staff and party officers along with the house and senate. There are also several committees that are also involved in the Maine Democratic Party. The party in Maine has several goals they promote, which are laid out in the Democratic Party Platform.
The Maine Democratic Party is the majority party in the Maine House of Representatives, and the minority party in the Maine Senate. They also hold one of the state's US House seats. While they do not hold any US Senate seats, independent Senator Angus King caucuses with Senate Democrats.
The Democratic Party has history dating back to the 1800s. A prominent figure who came out of the Democratic Party of Maine was Edmund S. Muskie. Maine entered the Union in 1820 as an Anti-Federalist State.
Soon after, in 1834, the Anti-Federalists adopted the Democratic Party name.
The Democrats had limited success for nearly a hundred years, in part due to slavery. The Northeast was predominantly anti-slavery whereas the South was pro-slavery. When the Whig party split in 1856, it formed the Republican Party, which dominated the state of Maine due to its anti-slavery stance.
Maine was predominantly Republican until 1954.
In 1954, in a gubernatorial election, the Democratic legislator Edmund S. Muskie became governor, ending Maine's one-party rule. He won the state over in part due to his stance on economic growth through industrial development, accessible politics on television and being acceptable to diverse population growth. Between 1954 and 1974, the number of registered Democrats more than doubled from 99,000 to 212,000.