What we learned from the 1st debate between Angus King and 2 challengers

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff

U.S. Sen. Angus King and two candidates challenging him from the left and right met Monday night for a debate that gave voters a late look at the field ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and first won election in 2012, is expected to win another six-year term. He enjoys positive favorability ratings. At age 80, he has not faced the kind of age-related concerns that hounded President Joe Biden before Vice President Kamala Harris replaced him atop the ticket.

Monday’s debate hosted by CBS 13 and the Bangor Daily News offered Republican Demi Kouzounas, a veteran and retired dentist who previously led the Maine GOP, and Democrat David Costello of Brunswick, who has worked in the public sector in Maine and Maryland and for the U.S. government, a chance to pitch undecided voters ahead of next week’s election.

Independent Jason Cherry, an attorney and retired FBI agent from Unity, did not meet a polling threshold to qualify for the debate.

Here are two key takeaways.

The candidates have differences but agreed often.

Kouzounas, whom U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recruited to run against King, has polled in second place and has routinely attacked King on immigration, such as by pointing to his past opposition to a border wall, and the cost of living, claiming he “let housing prices soar.”

Costello, an Old Town native, has argued King is too “hesitant” to support more expansive reforms involving progressive ideas, such as abolishing the Electoral College and expanding the House of Representatives. Costello also backs tribal sovereignty, which is notable given King has joined Gov. Janet Mills in opposing legislation favored by the Wabanaki Nations.

Yet Monday’s debate was characterized more by moments of agreement, something that could benefit King as the incumbent. 

For example, the three agreed on supporting abortion rights. Costello, 64, and Kouzounas, 68, agreed King’s age is not an issue but said term limits are needed. And the Democrat and Republican each said they would support raising the maximum earnings on which workers pay Social Security taxes past $168,600, with Costello calling for an elimination of the cap.

King was mentioned last year among a bipartisan group talking about raising the retirement age to around 70, but he denied calling that a proposal Monday while instead saying discussions continue on how to fix Social Security before it may run out of money in 2033.

“We’re all agreeing with each other here,” King quipped.

Angus King opposes ending the filibuster amid an abortion debate.

Costello diverged from King and Kouzounas by supporting the end of the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation that is routinely under scrutiny. 

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have supported scrapping it at different times and for different reasons. Harris wants to do so to pass abortion-rights legislation. King backs that but has stopped short of calling for an end to the filibuster to pass it.

King said when he first joined the Senate, he supported abolishing the move. But he said Monday that he quickly learned that “what goes around, comes around,” noting both major parties could later regret ending the filibuster depending on who controls the Senate.

King said Monday he supports tweaking rules on the filibuster but not outright ending it. Kouzounas, who led the effort to get Trump on Maine’s 2024 ballot, also opposed ending it. But Costello argued that the filibuster is “not a democratic instrument.”