Sara Gideon

Early career

She served as an intern for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell.^[11] She also worked as an advertising account executive at USA Today.^[12][13]

In 2004, Gideon moved to Freeport, Maine.^[13] In October 2009, she won a seat on the Freeport Town Council.^[14] She served until 2012, and was the council's vice chair beginning in 2011.^[10]

Maine House of Representatives

First elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2012, Gideon was reelected in 2014 and chosen as Assistant Majority Leader.^[15] In 2016, she was elected as Speaker by the House.^[16] As speaker, Gideon also supported Medicaid expansion in Maine, including the 2017 referendum on the topic, and helped override Governor Paul LePage's veto of a bill to make the anti-overdose drug naloxone (Narcan) available over-the-counter,^[17] aimed at preventing deaths from the opioid epidemic.^[18]

Gideon was a member of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. According to India Abroad, "she worked to lower energy costs, encourage increased energy efficiency and promote clean and renewable energy to capitalize on Maine's natural resources and build a clean-energy economy."^[5]

After Democratic Governor Janet Mills was elected in 2018, the Maine Legislature under Gideon's speakership passed several key climate change bills, including a measure requiring Maine to achieve 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.^[19] As speaker in 2019 and 2020, Gideon also sponsored legislation to expand abortion access by allowing physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to perform the procedure.^[20] She sponsored legislation to block the Quebec power company Hydro-Québec from spending money to influence a referendum of a controversial proposed power line project in Maine.^[21]

In 2019, Gideon faced an election ethics complaint for accepting reimbursements for her personal political donations from her own PAC.^[22] A spokesperson said, "The contributions were within the legal limit and fully disclosed, but the committee was given incorrect guidance on how to process them."^[22] The campaign said that it had reimbursed the federal government $3,250 for the violations and closed the PAC.^[23] In October 2019, the Maine Ethics Commission voted unanimously to fine the closed PAC $500.^[23]

2020 U.S. Senate campaign

On June 24, 2019, Gideon announced her candidacy in the 2020 Senate election to challenge incumbent Republican Susan Collins.^[24] In the first week of her campaign, she raised more than $1 million.^[25] Gideon ran against Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman in the ranked-choice Democratic primary election.^[19] In the primary, Gideon received support from the mainstream of the Democratic Party, while Sweet and Kidman drew support from the party's insurgent progressive wing.^[19] Before the July 14 primary, Gideon was endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee^[26][27] as well as labor unions and women's groups.^[19] Gideon led in primary election polling,^[19] and won the primary with roughly 70% of the vote.^[27][28] By the time of the primary election, she had raised $23 million.^[28] The Bangor Daily News endorsed Gideon in the Democratic primary in June 2020.^[29]

Following her Democratic primary win in June, Gideon received endorsements from NARAL, EMILY's List, Progressive Democrats of America, Brand New Congress, and Our Revolution.^[30] In August, former President Barack Obama endorsed Gideon.^[31] In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country's largest LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, opposed the reelection of Susan Collins and instead endorsed Gideon. It was the first time that the HRC has opposed Collins, who has been seen as a key Republican vote on LGBTQ rights.^[32]

The hotly contested race became the most expensive in Maine history, with Collins spending $23 million and Gideon nearly $48 million.^[33] The race also had national implications, as defeating Collins was a key part of the Democrats' strategy to achieve a Senate majority.^[34]

Gideon ultimately lost the election by over 8% to Collins.^[35] Gideon was defeated despite leading Collins in nearly every public poll.^[36]

Gideon underperformed winning Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden by 10.6%. Her performance was the second-worst underperformance by a Democratic Senate candidate in the country.^[37]

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020