Steve Mistler
@stevemistler.bsky.social
Politics & government reporter for Maine Public Broadcasting. Contribs to NPR. Former 📰 guy. Signal: @stevemistler.83
Worth your time to read this Laura Loomer piece. Includes a peek at the pay-to-play influencer machine
Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
November 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Worth your time to read this Laura Loomer piece. Includes a peek at the pay-to-play influencer machine
Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Graham Platner at the Chocolate Church in Bath. Full house. Seats 300. Begins by calling on attendees to support local food banks amid shutdown and suspension of SNAP assistance.
November 6, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Graham Platner at the Chocolate Church in Bath. Full house. Seats 300. Begins by calling on attendees to support local food banks amid shutdown and suspension of SNAP assistance.
Really interesting pollster note in the UNH survey. Tries to account for Mills performance v Platner with declining approval. Her approval was +4 in August before she got in the race but flirting with it. It dropped to -12 once she got in. Did approval fall because she got in?
buff.ly/ehktz3M
buff.ly/ehktz3M
October 23, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Really interesting pollster note in the UNH survey. Tries to account for Mills performance v Platner with declining approval. Her approval was +4 in August before she got in the race but flirting with it. It dropped to -12 once she got in. Did approval fall because she got in?
buff.ly/ehktz3M
buff.ly/ehktz3M
EMILY’s List out with the quick endorsement.
October 14, 2025 at 1:07 PM
EMILY’s List out with the quick endorsement.
Graham Platner at a town hall in Ellsworth. A hometown crowd of sorts, but they’ve packed this small brewery.
September 22, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Graham Platner at a town hall in Ellsworth. A hometown crowd of sorts, but they’ve packed this small brewery.
Big day at the Maine State House today as folks lineup to testify on a slate of Republican bills rolling back trans rights, including some banning transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams. The backdrop is the Trump admin suing the state over the athletics issue @mainepublic.org
May 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Big day at the Maine State House today as folks lineup to testify on a slate of Republican bills rolling back trans rights, including some banning transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams. The backdrop is the Trump admin suing the state over the athletics issue @mainepublic.org
And now this statement after Trump’s DOE — which he is supposedly dismantling — said it’s launching an investigation
February 21, 2025 at 11:22 PM
And now this statement after Trump’s DOE — which he is supposedly dismantling — said it’s launching an investigation
TLDR: I'm fine with it.
February 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
TLDR: I'm fine with it.
This graf in @wired.com is so important. If you’re going to grant sources anonymity tell people what their motivations are for talking to you at all.
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
February 6, 2025 at 2:21 PM
This graf in @wired.com is so important. If you’re going to grant sources anonymity tell people what their motivations are for talking to you at all.
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
One more vertical shot here.
Should note that some local Dem committees bailed on this over concerns it was infiltrated by “bad actors” but it looked pretty legit to me.
A couple of pro-Trump demonstrators rolled through but were drowned out by the National Anthem sung by the larger crowd.
Should note that some local Dem committees bailed on this over concerns it was infiltrated by “bad actors” but it looked pretty legit to me.
A couple of pro-Trump demonstrators rolled through but were drowned out by the National Anthem sung by the larger crowd.
February 5, 2025 at 5:55 PM
One more vertical shot here.
Should note that some local Dem committees bailed on this over concerns it was infiltrated by “bad actors” but it looked pretty legit to me.
A couple of pro-Trump demonstrators rolled through but were drowned out by the National Anthem sung by the larger crowd.
Should note that some local Dem committees bailed on this over concerns it was infiltrated by “bad actors” but it looked pretty legit to me.
A couple of pro-Trump demonstrators rolled through but were drowned out by the National Anthem sung by the larger crowd.
Demonstrators at the Maine State House protesting Musk, Project 2025. Before this the chants were “Congress do your job!”
There’s a “deport Elon” sign in there but I couldn’t get a clean shot.
This is part of a larger effort to protest the Trump administration and Musk at all 50 state capitals.
There’s a “deport Elon” sign in there but I couldn’t get a clean shot.
This is part of a larger effort to protest the Trump administration and Musk at all 50 state capitals.
February 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Demonstrators at the Maine State House protesting Musk, Project 2025. Before this the chants were “Congress do your job!”
There’s a “deport Elon” sign in there but I couldn’t get a clean shot.
This is part of a larger effort to protest the Trump administration and Musk at all 50 state capitals.
There’s a “deport Elon” sign in there but I couldn’t get a clean shot.
This is part of a larger effort to protest the Trump administration and Musk at all 50 state capitals.
Note that the critique here isn’t specifically about Musk bros probing and noodling with federal systems containing Americans’ private tax and benefit information. In a Trump heavy district, it’s that unelected billionaire Musk is “pursuing his own agenda” and stepping on Trump’s toes.
February 5, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Note that the critique here isn’t specifically about Musk bros probing and noodling with federal systems containing Americans’ private tax and benefit information. In a Trump heavy district, it’s that unelected billionaire Musk is “pursuing his own agenda” and stepping on Trump’s toes.
Maine 2nd District Dem Rep Jared Golden says Trump tariffs could help reverse ills of globalization and renegotiate the bad CUSMA deal (that Trump 1.0 negotiated). Meanwhile Trump says tariffs should coerce Canada to become 51st state.
February 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Maine 2nd District Dem Rep Jared Golden says Trump tariffs could help reverse ills of globalization and renegotiate the bad CUSMA deal (that Trump 1.0 negotiated). Meanwhile Trump says tariffs should coerce Canada to become 51st state.
A thousand salutes to the people writing these @404media.co headlines
January 30, 2025 at 11:37 PM
A thousand salutes to the people writing these @404media.co headlines
UPDATE: Kyle Fitzsimons, described by federal prosecutors as one of the most violent of the J6 rioters, has been released from a federal prison.
January 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
UPDATE: Kyle Fitzsimons, described by federal prosecutors as one of the most violent of the J6 rioters, has been released from a federal prison.
Saw this activist complaining about ASL interpreters, who he calls "wild human gesticulators." Immediately thought of Liz Seal. She is deaf. Her husband was one of 4 deaf people killed in the Lewiston mass shooting. Below is how she found out about Josh when no ASL interpreters were present.
January 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saw this activist complaining about ASL interpreters, who he calls "wild human gesticulators." Immediately thought of Liz Seal. She is deaf. Her husband was one of 4 deaf people killed in the Lewiston mass shooting. Below is how she found out about Josh when no ASL interpreters were present.
Super cool to watch Cooper Flagg’s teammates go batshit after his power dunk, but this was peak
January 9, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Super cool to watch Cooper Flagg’s teammates go batshit after his power dunk, but this was peak
Worth noting that Collins has already expressed interest in running again in '26 and Maine Democrats are highlighting her statements/meetings on Trump's controversial cabinet picks.
January 2, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Worth noting that Collins has already expressed interest in running again in '26 and Maine Democrats are highlighting her statements/meetings on Trump's controversial cabinet picks.
I would like to know who is responsible for nerfing RD-D2’s defensive capabilities after Revenge of the Sith.
December 27, 2024 at 12:19 AM
I would like to know who is responsible for nerfing RD-D2’s defensive capabilities after Revenge of the Sith.
You'll also hear from this guy, Michael Chitwood, a decorated Philly cop who became police chief of Portland, Maine's largest city. He's brash, charismatic and he ran headlong into the Maine gun rights buzzsaw. "They controlled it all," he told me. 4/
December 20, 2024 at 3:05 PM
You'll also hear from this guy, Michael Chitwood, a decorated Philly cop who became police chief of Portland, Maine's largest city. He's brash, charismatic and he ran headlong into the Maine gun rights buzzsaw. "They controlled it all," he told me. 4/
"It wasn't the system that failed. It was the people in the system." That's what David Trahan, the group's leader, said about the shooting. He has helped steer the debate about the law's effectiveness to why it wasn't used to stop the gunman. You'll hear a lot from him during this episode. 3/
December 20, 2024 at 3:05 PM
"It wasn't the system that failed. It was the people in the system." That's what David Trahan, the group's leader, said about the shooting. He has helped steer the debate about the law's effectiveness to why it wasn't used to stop the gunman. You'll hear a lot from him during this episode. 3/
In 2013 a Maine newspaper started collecting concealed weapons permit data from local police departments. The backlash from gun owners who worried their info would be publicized or used for political purposes was intense. Never seen anything before or since.
www.pressherald.com/2024/10/30/h...
www.pressherald.com/2024/10/30/h...
December 8, 2024 at 6:16 PM
In 2013 a Maine newspaper started collecting concealed weapons permit data from local police departments. The backlash from gun owners who worried their info would be publicized or used for political purposes was intense. Never seen anything before or since.
www.pressherald.com/2024/10/30/h...
www.pressherald.com/2024/10/30/h...
I mean, TruthSayer0685283 is definitely sourcing their facts like this before switching on the O-ring light and shouting at their phone for 20 minutes about chemtrails, right? Right.
November 21, 2024 at 5:28 PM
I mean, TruthSayer0685283 is definitely sourcing their facts like this before switching on the O-ring light and shouting at their phone for 20 minutes about chemtrails, right? Right.
And done ... until Wednesday. #mepolitics
November 20, 2024 at 3:54 PM
And done ... until Wednesday. #mepolitics
Late shift at the #statehouse #veranda cc: @mikeshepherdme
November 20, 2024 at 3:54 PM
Late shift at the #statehouse #veranda cc: @mikeshepherdme