Should Young Mainers STAY or GO??

Speaking Up for Maine Moms

What happens when a Maine mom who doesn't follow politics sits down with her state rep and just starts asking questions? Libby Fotter, a homeschooling mom of four daughters from Auburn, joins Laurel for a conversation that covers how the Maine Legislature actually works, from the inside, for anyone who has ever felt like Augusta was happening to them without their input. No political experience required. In this episode: * How Maine's Legislature is structured * What constituent requests actually look like * How a bill gets written * Who actually elects Maine's Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer (hint: it's not voters) * The worst bill of the session: Maine's new millionaire tax, what it does to the top income tax rate, and why Laurel believes it will cost the whole state * Laurel's favorite bill idea she's never submitted, and why timing matters Plus, a birthday text from a teenager that will be instantly recognizable to any parent of a Gen Z kid. Subscribe to Speak Up with Laurel Libby: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurel_libby [https://www.youtube.com/@laurel_libby] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/75Y2G40k0gWwFH6cncgiuW?si=2e9b9fe49f114a51 [https://open.spotify.com/show/75Y2G40k0gWwFH6cncgiuW?si=2e9b9fe49f114a51] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-with-laurel-libby/id1870102672 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-with-laurel-libby/id1870102672] Follow Laurel: X: https://x.com/laurel_libby [https://x.com/laurel_libby] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurelLibbyMEHouse [https://www.facebook.com/LaurelLibbyMEHouse] Learn more about Lead Maine's work at www.LeadMaine.com [http://www.leadmaine.com/]

The Unlikely Alliance to Protect Mainers' Privacy

Government surveillance... creepy, intrusive, and unconstitutional! Automated license plate readers are spreading quietly across Maine towns, scanning and logging every car that drives past, innocent travelers included. Laurel sits down with two leaders from the ACLU of Maine, Policy Director Michael Kebede and Policy Fellow Alicia Rea, to unpack how Flock cameras work, what they actually capture, and why Mainers across the political spectrum are pushing back. In this episode: * How Flock's automated license plate readers scan every passing car and build a "mosaic" of where you have been, from doctor's appointments to churches to protests * Why Michael Kebede argues that ubiquitous, government-controlled cameras erode the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement * What Flock's trademarked "vehicle fingerprint" technology captures: make, model, color, bumper stickers, and aftermarket parts * How Maine's 21-day data retention rule works, and why the camera company is not bound by it * The towns that fought back: Sanford and Wells * Why a bipartisan two-thirds majority in both chambers defeated LD 1457, the turnpike speed-camera bill * How Maine's 2019 facial recognition ban, which Kebede drafted, blocks Flock's "Condor" product * The wrongful-arrest cases that lead the ACLU to call facial recognition "dangerous when it works" Dig deeper:ACLU of Maine: aclumaine.org Kathleen Tomaselli's reporting on surveillance cameras in Houlton: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/02/13/aroostook/aroostook-government/houlton-surveillance-cameras-data-joam40zk0w/ Subscribe to Speak Up with Laurel Libby: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurel_libby [https://www.youtube.com/@laurel_libby] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/75Y2G40k0gWwFH6cncgiuW?si=2e9b9fe49f114a51 [https://open.spotify.com/show/75Y2G40k0gWwFH6cncgiuW?si=2e9b9fe49f114a51] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-with-laurel-libby/id1870102672 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-with-laurel-libby/id1870102672] Follow Laurel: X: https://x.com/laurel_libby [https://x.com/laurel_libby] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurelLibbyMEHouse [https://www.facebook.com/LaurelLibbyMEHouse] Learn more about Lead Maine's work at www.LeadMaine.com [http://www.leadmaine.com/]

What REALLY Happens to Your Ranked-Choice Ballot??

Maine's June 9 primary will use Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), and a lot of voters are still not sure how it works. Here's the solution! We recorded our in studio Lead Maine event, "Ranked Choice Voting Decoded," where Trent England, founder and executive director of Save Our States and co-chairman of the Stop Ranked-Choice Voting Coalition, and Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage walked through exactly how to fill out a ranked-choice ballot, what happens to your vote in each round of counting, and how to make sure your voice is heard. We won't tell you who to vote for, or even whether to rank... after you watch this video you'll have with the information you need to decide for yourself! Learn about: * What RCV is, and why it keeps getting more complicated * The mistakes that get a ballot thrown out, and how to avoid them * What "exhausted ballots" are, and how they shrink the majority needed to win * How multiple rounds of counting can change the winner * Where RCV applies in Maine this year, and where it does not Maine's primary is June 9. Early voting and absentee voting are already open. You can request an absentee ballot online or pick one up at your town office, which gives you time to research the candidates before you vote. Lead Maine opposes ranked-choice voting and supports its repeal, but this event was built to be practical. The goal is a confident voter, however you choose to mark your ballot. NOTE: The primary for governor uses ranked-choice voting. The general election for governor does not.

Who's Funding the War on Our Energy Future?

The same week the Maine Legislature passed the data center moratorium (which would later be vetoed), American Energy Institute dropped a report showing $39 million in foreign funding behind the groups pushing for the policy. That's not a coincidence. Jason Isaac has spent years tracing the money behind America's energy debate, and what he's found connects your electricity bill, the attempted shutdown of billions of dollars of investment in Maine, and a coordinated campaign to train federal judges with debunked climate science, all the way back to the same set of foreign-funded organizations.Jason Isaac is the founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute and host of the High Carbon Lifestyle podcast. A fourth-generation Texan, he served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives on the Energy Resources and Environmental Regulation Committee, and spent years working in technology-driven logistics and operations before that. He has testified before the House Ways and Means and House Judiciary Committees and has been published in Fox News, Fox Business, The Hill, The Daily Caller, and Bloomberg Law. His current work focuses on exposing the foreign-funded infrastructure behind America's energy and data policy battles.Follow Jason Isaac: x.com/ISAACforEnergy facebook.com/isaacfortexas/ Jason Isaac's Substack & High Carbon Lifestyle podcast: jasonisaac.substack.com SUBSCRIBE & SHARE Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/75Y2G40k0gWwFH6cncgiuW?si=2e9b9fe49f114a51 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-with-laurel-libby/id1870102672 Web: leadmaine.com/podcast

She Stood in Second. A Boy Stood in First

Rohen Brown was 18 years old, running the last race of her high school career, when she stepped onto the Western Conference Championship podium in second place. The athlete in first was a male who had been competing in her races for years. Rohen is 19 now, studying political science at the University of Southern Maine, and serving as Lead Maine's first intern. This November, Maine voters will have a say on a ballot initiative to protect girls' and women's sports. But right now, through May 7, Mainers can comment on how that ballot question is worded. What you'll hear in this episode: * Why Rohen grieved more for the girl who came in 31st than for her own lost placements, and what a lack of fairness in girls' sports actually costs * What it felt like to stand on the Western Conference Championship podium in second place during the final race of her senior year, with St. Dominic's closing behind her and college ahead * What female distance running culture in Maine has been, and how that changed when the atmosphere around her races turned charged * What she'd tell a young Mainer who feels politically alone, doesn't know where to start, and is spending too much time on social media looking for answers Submit your comment to Maine’s Secretary of State regarding a clearly-worded ballot question to Protect Girls’ Sports before May 7: www.leadmaine.com/protectgirlssports [http://www.leadmaine.com/protectgirlssports]