Saco, Maine criminal defense attorney Bre Kidman wants to become the first Non-Binary/Queer Senator and they want to oust Susan Collins to do it.
Susan Rice passed on the the chance at the nomination, and Washington County doctor Cathleen London has suspended her campaign... but Bre is up for the challenge.
From her Campaign/Donations Page:
“My name is Bre Kidman, and I want to represent Maine in the United States Senate.
I'm not the kind of person most people think of when they envision a politician. I'm a millennial. I have never run for office before. I hate wearing blazers. I drive a dented 10-year-old subcompact that's missing a hubcap. I am a pierced, tattooed, rainbow-haired plus-sized burlesque performer who buys most of their fast fashion wardrobe on clearance. I put the "Q+" in "LGBTQ+." I live in an 830-square-foot house that was recently described to me as "probably not intended for year-round occupancy." I had a medical marijuana card for a few years, when I needed it. I have been naked on the internet. I have no interest in hiding who I was before I became who I am today. I may not be slick and polished, but I am smart and passionate, and I see the problems Mainers face firsthand every day.
As a criminal defense attorney I make a little less than Maine's median household income defending Mainers who are accused of crimes but can't afford to hire a lawyer. I am endlessly grateful for the chance to do that work. When I graduated from the University of Maine School of Law, I knew the only thing that I could rightfully do with the opportunity I'd been given was to find the people who were experiencing the most injustice and work as hard as I could to get them a fair shake.
I love my work, but when I look at my clients and see the same issues coming through my door over and over again, lack of access to housing or healthcare or treatment for mental health and substance abuse, I know it's not enough. As I sit in chambers with judges and prosecutors, all of us heartbroken knowing the treatment options necessary to break the cycle don't exist, I know it's not enough. I have picked clients up at jail after months of coordinating with substance abuse programs to get them a bed and physically driven them to treatment centers hours away in my busted little car... and it's just not enough. Maine is seeing more than one drug-related death EVERY DAY and without top-down changes to how we address the contributing issues, one-on-one service providers like me will never be able to do enough.
The same can be said for the state of politics in the United States. We can all scream at each other on the Internet about whose team did which ridiculous thing this week, but it doesn't force our legislators to create solutions for the problems we face—or stop them from making laws that make our lives harder. We can read the full-text bills and resolutions our legislators are voting on and call their offices, but at the end of the day career politicians will always vote with an eye toward reelection, more beholden to special interests and their donors than the average voter. I was among those who traveled to Washington, DC in October of last year to meet with Susan Collins on the eve of the Kavanaugh vote. Unable to get an email back about scheduling a meeting or a phone call, I hustled down to Capitol Hill and pressed my ear against her closed door. When I heard footsteps, I banged on that door until someone answered. Begrudgingly, I got a meeting scheduled with a staffer for the next day and turned up with my story, and the policy reasons why Senator Collins should vote against confirmation. When I asked what was factoring into my senator's decision-making process, her disinterested staffer could not be more specific than “she's got a lot to consider.” Susan Collins' net worth has increased an average of 138% for EVERY YEAR she has been in the Senate and the only answer her constituents can get from her office on major decisions is “she's got a lot to consider.” You know what I say to that? That is not enough.
Mainers deserve a senator who cares more about finding real solutions to the problems we face than how they are going to fund their next run for office. Mainers deserve a senator who will spend more time listening to our concerns than courting rich out-of-state donors. Mainers deserve a senator who isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and work for us like they've got nothing to lose. Friends, my sleeves are rolled up and I am ready to spend six years of my life reminding our legislators who they work for. I am ready to spend six years of my life focused on taking back our government from corporate special interests and putting it back in the hands of the people. I am ready to spend six years of my life working tirelessly for our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It might not be enough...but if you elect me, I promise you that I will devote those six years to making sure we get the representation we deserve. Because Maine deserves more than a politician in the Senate.”
I would like nothing more than to see a “pierced, tattooed, rainbow-haired plus-sized burlesque performer who buys most of their fast fashion wardrobe on clearance” knocking around those phony baloney Xtian Republican men in the U.S. Senate.
I’m in for 23 bucks.
Are you?
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[cross-posted to PolitiZoom]