PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 29, 2020
A new political party is coming to Maine. The People’s Party bills itself as “a progressive populist alternative to the corporate-funded Democratic and Republican parties” and hopes to have candidates running for office starting in 2022. The new party, which plans to start enrolling members in Maine on Saturday, has its roots in U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016 that served as a catalyst for left-wing Democrats and independents to get involved in politics. The party needs to enroll at least 5,000 members to achieve ballot access in Maine. Mostly, said State Rep. Mike Sylvester, a Portland Democrat, they’re people who have “no place where they seem to fit in” to the existing parties.