Members of the press,

Sara Gideon is the Democratic nominee. Here’s why she didn’t win the primary:

• She didn’t win by out-debating her opponents. In fact, she skipped debates with multiple news organizations.

• She didn’t win because she worked harder. In fact, the Legislature has been out of session for 119 days during a pandemic.

• She didn’t win by telling the truth. Three separate national fact-checkers have declared Gideon’s ads false.

• She didn’t win because she had a record of accomplishment. Gideon’s legislature has singularly failed to address coronavirus, the most pressing health and economic crisis the state has faced in generations. 

• She didn’t win because she answered policy questions. In fact, she rarely talks about policy at all.

• She didn’t win because of her accessibility to reporters. She has repeatedly avoided interviews.  In fact, she dodged a WMTW interview request within the last 48 hours.

So here’s why Sara Gideon is the primary nominee:

Sara Gideon has accepted more out-of-state money than any candidate has ever accepted in Maine history, and it has gone straight to her campaign’s bank on K Street in Washington, DC.

It’s that simple: DC Democrats picked Maine’s Democratic nominee, not Mainers. And they did it by burying the state under an unprecedented tsunami of money.