Mainers who voted in the low-turnout presidential primary election expressed different levels of apathy Tuesday at their options on the ballot before President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump coasted to easy victories.
While it was not hard to find supporters of the two men bound for a rematch and many voters saw major stakes in the November election, some of them wished for more competition. That sentiment was not unexpected because Biden and Trump have each faced low approval ratings. National polls give Trump an edge in a November matchup.
Freeland Grant, a Bangor resident retired from working for a phone company, voted for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her longshot bid to overcome Trump’s solid grip on the GOP. But Grant, 83, was “not really” happy with any of the options on the ballot.
“I’d just like to get back to civility in the government and get something done,” Grant said. “Right now, politicians are thinking more about themselves than the American people.”
Haley, who held a rally in Portland on Sunday, had the support of Gail Lessard, but the Augusta resident is a registered Democrat who had not switched her registration to “unenrolled” to support Haley in Maine’s newly semi-open primaries. She voted for Biden.
“I would like for [Haley] to continue on, but I think it’s fruitless at this point,” Lessard conceded after voting inside the Buker Community Center. “It is a waste of time for me to come and do this, but I have to do it.”
Lessard alluded to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturning decisions in Maine, Colorado and Illinois to bar Trump from the ballot by wondering aloud whether “you really have to go and murder somebody” to get disqualified. Others were blunt in their criticism of both major party frontrunners.
“I’m just sick of all the bullshit,” said Tom Gallagher, a 64-year-old Augusta resident who aired frustration with “the two oldest guys” in Biden, 81, and Trump, 77.
While Shelly Okere, a Bangor resident and real estate investment company manager, views Biden as the best person to maintain America’s “standing in the world,” she wrote in a name she declined to share to express dissatisfaction with her options. Biden was on the Democratic ballot with U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips.
“It’s just disappointing that Biden is the only option,” Okere, 41, said of her primary.
Inside Augusta’s Ward 1 site at the Buker Community Center, warden Ansley Sawyer said only “political junkies” seemed to be among the 150 voters who had shown up before 1 p.m. Tuesday. It added up to a “giant yawn,” he said.
“There’s not a whole lot going on here,” Sawyer said.
There were still plenty of Biden and Trump supporters who shed light Tuesday on why they feel their candidates are the best to continue to lead the Republican or Democratic parties.
“I liked the way [Trump] was president, and I don’t like the way things are going now,” Gerald Karnes, a 76-year-old Bangor resident who drives a school bus while otherwise in retirement. “I had a lot more money when Trump was president.”
Border security and immigration are important issues for Karnes, while Biden supporter Evan Salcido mentioned international stability, homeland security and “making sure America keeps its character.”
“The United States should be represented by the best of the country, not the worst,” Salcido, a 32-year-old University of Maine postdoctoral student, said.
Biden voters also mentioned abortion and LGBTQ rights after Trump helped cement during his first term the Supreme Court’s conservative majority that later overturned Roe v. Wade, along with the economy in explaining why they are sticking with the incumbent. But even some of them were wistful for past elections with more choices.
“I still have my Bernie sticker on my car,” said Emily Irvine, a 30-year-old microbiology student from Bangor, referring to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020. “But he’s not running, and we don’t want to take away votes from Biden.”
