Maine's Political Pulse Steve Mistler, Kevin Miller

Republicans have described the proposal as a late-session ambush designed to catch gun rights groups and the public off guard.

Maine lawmakers are plodding toward a mid-April adjournment with a slew of contentious issues to resolve, including gun safety and a new spending plan. Meanwhile, a divided Congress continues its obsession with the November election in its quest for historically unproductive governance.

Next Tuesday, voters in Maine and more than a dozen other states will cast ballots during the single-largest primary day of the 2024 elections.By presidential primary standards, this year’s Super Tuesday contests are relatively anti-climactic because the Republican and Democratic tickets are pretty much set at this point. Absent some ground-shaking legal or political developments, the nation appears headed for a Biden-Trump rematch this November.But electors are still at stake in Maine. And for the first time this year, thanks to Maine’s switch to a “semi-open” primary, independent voters can join the proverbial party without literally having to join a party.

Bowing to pressure from former President Donald Trump, a majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate this week helped torpedo the bipartisan immigration bill that would have restricted and overhauled the asylum process while giving the president clear authority to close the border.The failure to advance the bill after four months of negotiations ensures that immigration will remain a key campaign issue in the 2024 presidential and congressional election with possible implications for down ballot contests in state legislatures.Maine's Political Pulse was written this week by State House correspondent Kevin Miller and produced by digital news reporter Esta Pratt-Kielley. The theme music was performed and recorded by Rob Holt.

Gov. Janet Mills reset the political debate over guns in Maine on Tuesday by unveiling a suite of policy proposals that she says were shaped or inspired by conversations since October’s mass shooting in Lewiston.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has decided to keep former President Donald Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot. Here's why.