BANGOR, Maine — On an 89-acre farm in Belmont, Maine, Stacy Leafsong is finishing up a series of intricate flower arrangements for an upcoming wedding.With pops of blue and white, the flowers mirror the colors of the coast, just a short drive to the east."I do flowers seven days a week, literally live and breathe flowers all the time," she said with a laugh.Leafsong is also a progressive organizer, and at the farm last summer, she hosted Graham Platner's first fundraiser for his U.S.
Senate campaign.She watched his rise and eventual fall, ending last month when he suspended his campaign over an allegation of rape, which he denies.Leafsong, a domestic violence survivor, denounced him before then, after growing concerned by previous reporting about Platner's behavior towards women.
Now, she's supporting Troy Jackson, the progressive former state senator who Democrats nominated to replace Platner.The race for Senate in Maine was always expected to be one of the most competitive matchups of the midterms.But the Platner scandal adds pressure to Jackson's already daunting task of chipping away at a key source of support for Republican incumbent Susan Collins: Maine women."He really needs to speak to the women in Maine, and really convince them that he's going to advocate well for them," Leafsong said.
"Women's issues are much more than childcare and abortion."The power of women voters is clear when looking at Collins' winning coalition in 2020.Women in the state made up nearly 60% of total turnout, according to exit polling, voting for Joe Biden by 23 percentage points.
However the same group flipped for Collins, by just three points."Women voters in Maine are the majority of voters, and so you have to take them seriously," said Democrat Emily Cain, a former state senator and the previous executive director of Emily's List, an organization that backs women candidates who support abortion rights."Independents are almost a third of voters in Maine.But the majority of...