By Sen. Richard Bradstreet

In every even numbered year, Mainers go to the polls to elect their State Representative and State Senator. These biennial state elections mark the important civic duty for the citizens of Maine to select who will represent them under the State House Dome.

 What many people don’t know is that after the election of legislators, there is another election – an insular, secret ballot, closed door election to select Maine’s three powerful Constitutional Officers and one Statutory Officer. The Attorney General, Secretary of State (SoS), State Treasurer and State Auditor are all selected through this back-room process.

Hello, I’m Senator Dick Bradstreet from Kennebec County. I have the honor of representing the communities of Senate District 15, which consists of Augusta, Belgrade, China, Mount Vernon, Sidney and Vassalboro.  Thank you for tuning in to this week’s Republican Radio Address.

Maine’s Constitutional Officers serve critical roles from prosecuting legal cases and bringing lawsuits on behalf of the state to overseeing all aspects of Maine’s elections to managing state funds and auditing public accounts. These positions are not just administrative in nature. The holders of these positions have considerable power and policy influence but are only accountable to a small number of political insiders.

In fact, Maine is the only state where all the constitutional officers are chosen exclusively by the legislature. This results in constitutional officers being picked based on alliances within the majority party. Often, former or current legislators and party insiders are selected for these positions as a reward for their years of party loyalty.

The results of this flawed, insular selection process have made the headlines in recent years. The Attorney General of Maine became embroiled in a scandal surrounding an affair with a subordinate employee. Even though he admitted “an error in judgement,” he faced no consequences for breaking state workplace harassment protocol.

Even more notable than the Attorney General’s inappropriate workplace conduct, was the unilateral decision by the Secretary of State to disqualify President Trump from Maine’s presidential primary ballot. Let me be clear, the individual who oversees all aspects of our elections, and bills herself as a ‘democracy defender,’ chose to put partisanship first and strip nearly half of all Mainers of their vote. If the SoS was accountable to the people of Maine, rather than just the Legislature’s majority caucuses, he or she would be less likely to disenfranchise the voters of Maine.

It is beyond time for Maine to move away from this selection method for positions that the public should have a voice in. Earlier this week, public hearings were held in the State and Local Government Committee on nine bills, including one I introduced, that would give Maine citizens a voice in electing Maine’s Constitutional and Statutory Officers.

Statewide elections for these positions would increase transparency and accountability. A statewide vote will allow all candidates to advocate for their abilities and readiness for a position. The people will be able to scrutinize each individual and choose the person of their choice.

While many of these bills have a high bar to pass as proposed Constitutional Amendments, Sen. Rick Bennett introduced a bill that would enable greater transparency, even if the Constitutional Amendments don’t pass. LD 1193, “An Act to Require the Legislature to Elect Constitutional Officers and the State Auditor in Convention with an Open Ballot System,” would allow the public to know how their legislators voted on constitutional officers.

Almost every other vote in the Legislature, including Senate confirmation votes on gubernatorial appointments, is public. Constituents should have a right to know who their legislators are supporting for these vital positions.

It’s beyond time to bring Maine in line with most states and fix this broken backroom process for selecting some our state’s most powerful officials.

Again, this is Senator Dick Bradstreet from Kennebec County. Thank you for listening and be sure to follow Maine Senate Republicans on Facebook, Instagram and X.

Senator Dick Bradstreet is serving his first term representing District 15, which includes the communities of Augusta, Belgrade, China, Mount Vernon, Sidney and Vassalboro. He is the Senate Republican Lead on the Legislature’s Labor Committee.