Is Politics Still Local in New England?

Fryeburg, Maine

Tip O’Neill liked to say that all politics is local. In our era of partisan and ideological polarization, politics has become far more national. But a pair of Senate campaigns in northern New England may defy this trend. At a time when Democrats are running competitive races in red states, Republican candidates in Maine and New Hampshire are keeping their races close despite the Donald Trump undertow and their states’ Democratic inclinations.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and former Sen. John E. Dream of New Hampshire are running on their strong personal brands with an emphasis on constituent services and localism. Localism remains strong in Maine partially because the state is unusual. It has the oldest median age and the second-highest proportion of residents living in rural areas (behind Vermont) among all 50 states. The economy is built on agriculture, natural resources, shipbuilding, manufacturing and lobstering. Mainers tend to be socially liberal and are 10 percentage points likelier to be religiously unaffiliated than the national average. That makes it unsurprising that Ms. Collins, a centrist pro-choice Republican who grew up in the rural northeastern part of the state, has won five terms.

As Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, Ms. Collins has secured significant funding for state projects. During her visit on Oct. 9 to the state’s largest agricultural fair, in Fryeburg, fairgoers thanked her for projects and services including the construction of fire stations. “That kind of constituent service,” Ms. Collins said in an interview, “really matters to people’s quality of life.”