John,

This week, we called on our own nominee for the U.S. Senate to withdraw. We hold every candidate who seeks to carry our banner to the highest standard, and we stand with women and survivors. That principle does not bend based on party affiliation.

He has now withdrawn.

The hard decision in this story was not ours. It belonged to the women who came forward, because speaking up is often costly, and we respect them for it.

Our responsibility required judgment and a willingness to act when circumstances demanded it. Circumstances demanded it. We acted.

Now we want to talk to you about what happens next, because it matters enormously.

There is no Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maine.

Our party will come together, as our rules provide, to choose the Democrat who will carry our banner against Susan Collins. We will do it carefully and we will do it right. Mainers deserve nothing less.

But here is the hard truth about that gap:

Susan Collins does not pause while we confer. She has been raising money for this race for six years. Her campaign is raising more today, and it will raise more tomorrow. The corporate PACs and wealthy interests her votes protect are not waiting to see who our nominee is. They are adding to a war chest six years in the making, while our side has no candidate, no campaign, and no one answering. Whoever we choose will start this race six years behind.

Every day of this holding period is a day she banks money unanswered.

We refuse to let our next nominee start from zero.

So the Maine Democratic Party is opening the Day One Fund: money raised now, held ready, so that the moment our new nominee is chosen, they inherit a running start instead of an empty account.

Day one, they will need a statewide organizing operation already paid for.

Day one, they will need voter contact already underway in all 16 counties.

Day one, they will need to answer Collins on the air, not spend a month catching up.

That is what this fund does. A running start, waiting for whoever earns the nomination.

This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against an administration, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. That struggle did not end this week. If anything, our responsibility to it grew.

The party will do its job in the days ahead. We are asking you to do yours today, so that our nominee, whoever they are, walks into this fight ready.

With resolve,
Maine Democratic Party