David Costello

Given the importance of Maine’s US Senate race and the scarcity of substantive policy and experience analysis by the media, debates are indispensable. As one of the 3 Democrats on the primary ballot, I’ve said yes to all of them and encourage others to organize more #MEpolitics

I worked for USAID in such shattered countries as Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. USAID aid benefited US interests and saved countless lives. That’s what we, the USA, should best be known for – saving lives. Sen. Susan Collins was wrong to not fight for USAID #MEpolitics

Maine Democrats: Don’t forget David Costello in Senate primary | Steve Collins (via Portland Press Herald) #MEpolitics pressherald.com/2026/03/24/mai…

What kind of president celebrates the death of a decorated veteran and public servant? The worst kind! Yesterday, Pres. Trump said that he was “glad” that former FBI director Robert Mueller had died. Mueller’s life and service should be celebrated, not his death... #MEpolitics

If Sen. Susan Collins truly cared about securing our votes and elections, she’d oppose the Trump Admin’s deceitful and suppressive “SAVE Act,” and instead work to resurrect the US Senate’s earlier, more comprehensive “Freedom to Vote Act.”

newspaper.sunjournal.com/infinity/artic… - Enough about Mills and Platner. What about Costello?

Yesterday I qualified for Maine’s US Senate primary. I believe my working-class upbringing and extensive senior-level government experience and substantive reform agenda makes me the best candidate to defeat Senator Collins in 2026. Check out costelloforsenate.com

What does Senator Susan Collins have to say? Today marks the expiration of the last NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL treaty between the US and Russia. Leaving both nations with no limits on the size or structure of their arsenals for the first time since 1972; at the very moment both are planning new generations of nuclear weapons and delivery systems. And frighteningly, at a time when our anti-immigration and self-dealing and promotion crazed presidential administration is focused elsewhere. Along with addressing America’s unsolved affordability challenges – (which could be addressed by enacting Medicare for all and universal childcare, and investing more in retirement security, education, and housing, and funding these efforts via increased taxes on the wealthy) – we need the Trump Administration to prioritize nuclear disarmament negotiations and agreements. Adding more, particularly non-recallable missiles, to ours’s and our potential adversaries’ (Russia, China and North Korea) nuclear arsenals, as is currently underway, is not the best way forward. We should instead, along with our allies (UK and France) and other nuclear powers (India, Pakistan and Isreal), be working to advance global disarmament treaties that center on replacing the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD) with that of minimally assured deterrence (i.e., the idea of nuclear armed nations’ having just enough nuclear weapons to deter advisories, but nowhere near enough collectively to wipe out humanity)... And while they’re at, the world’s nuclear powers should also consider doing a lot more to mitigate humanities other potential existential threats: climate change and unconstrained artificial intelligence (AI)...

The secret police-state style tactics being used by the Trump Admin to demonize, scare, and round-up immigrants (and harm protestors) must stop! Immigration is a complicated global challenge; requiring smart, comprehensive national and multi-national solutions, not hateful political point scoring.

Sen. Collins and her GOP colleagues need to do more, a lot more, to reign-in the Trump administration’s unjust and counterproductive anti-immigration practices. No one is opposed to arresting criminals, whether they’re immigrants to the United States or natural born citizens, and virtually all Americans oppose illegal immigration. Also, most Americans, realize that legal immigration is good for our economy and country, have supported comprehensive immigration reform (including more resources to secure our borders) for decades. What most American’s don’t support are the secret police-state style tactics being utilized by the Trump Administration to scare and round-up immigrants (legal and otherwise) and to demonize them and any Americans protesting the use of such unnecessary and un-American tactics.

Senator Susan Collins and her GOP colleagues need to do more, a lot more, to reign-in the Trump administration’s unjust and counterproductive anti-immigration practices. No one is opposed to arresting criminals, whether they’re immigrants to the United States or natural born citizens, and virtually all Americans oppose illegal immigration. Also, most Americans, realize that legal immigration is good for our economy and country and have supported comprehensive immigration reform (including more resources to better secure our borders) for decades. What most American’s don’t support are the secret police-state style tactics being utilized by the Trump Administration to scare and round-up immigrants (legal and otherwise) and to demonize them and any Americans protesting the use of such unnecessary and un-American tactics. Dealing with illegal immigration appropriately, like many other world-at-large challenges, is complicated and will require both national and multi-national solutions. Instead of overstating the negative impact of immigration and immigrants to distract attention, score political points, and accrue more power - the Trump Administration and GOP Congress should focus on comprehensive immigration reforms (like the bipartisan Gang of Eight styled reforms of 2013); including increasing, not decreasing, support for international efforts to stabilize countries in crisis so that residents aren’t compelled to leave.

Opening a criminal investigation regarding Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s June testimony to Congress is just another unprecedented and dangerous act of intimidation (and weaponization of the Justice Department) undertaken by the Trump Administration. If Congress has questions or issues regarding Fed testimony, Congress should and can investigate. This threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the “independent” Fed not bending to President Trump’s ill-advised and precarious economic whims. Senator Susan Collins and her GOP colleagues must do more, considerably more, to reign in the Trump Administration’s damaging assaults on our nation’s economic and scientific experts and expertise.

Presidential aide Stephen Miller is wrong and dangerous. There is no justification for American imperialism, nor imperialism exercised by any other nation. The world’s colonial powers realized this more than half a century ago. US Government actions that run counter to American and international law and ideals, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will only weaken our nation’s long-term economic and physical security. It’s absurd and dangerous to think the United States, or any country, Russia and China included, has the right to forcefully take over any other territory or country (including Greenland, Taiwan, or Ukraine). Senator Susan Collins and her colleagues need to reign in the mis-guided imperial aims of the Trump Administration before they further damage our country’s standing in the world.

Affordable, comprehensive, quality HEALTH CARE, a right, not a privilege... Health insurance premiums are spiking for millions of Americans and thousands of Mainers with the expiration of Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies of low-income enrollees. This needless surge in prices is coming at a time when overall costs for health care, housing, groceries, and electricity are rising because of nonsensical tariffs and other economic missteps by the Trump Administration. Band-aid fixes like those being advanced by Senator Collins, will never be sufficient, nor will they ever be as economically sound or as beneficial as what all other industrial nations are doing. That is guaranteeing affordable, quality healthcare for ALL citizens via national health insurance and health care systems like Medicare.

While not perfect, JFK and his brothers were smart, compassionate leaders who sought a better world and dedicated their lives to helping those less fortunate. In sharp contrast to Pres. Trump, whose self-aggrandizement is obscene and whose name should be removed from JFK’s living memorial.

Sen King made a mistake in voting in favor of the GOP Congress’s recent “CR”, yet he’s spot-on in his assessment of the Trump Admin’s efforts to strong arm Ukraine into accepting an unacceptable “peace” agreement. US needs to place more pressure on Russia, not Ukraine!

Me, and beagle Stella, think that I'm the best (most electable) Democrat to take on Senator Collins in 2026. We believe this because I possess the most genuine working-class Maine roots; benefit from the broadest public service experience; have yet to garner “establishment” support; stand committed to advancing the boldest and most substantive policy reform ideas; have authored no-disqualifying social media; and I'm not yet fully eligible for Social Security

Cost-of-living concerns are top-of-mind for Maine’s voters. Unfortunately, economically sound solutions, like Medicare for all, universal pre-k and afterschool childcare programs, expanded Social Security benefits, and first-time homebuyer and rental housing support programs have been impeded by the Republican Party’s opposition to taxing the wealthy and its damaging stranglehold on Washington. It’s time to break the GOP’s stranglehold by enacting long-overdue proposals to substantially reform our governing practices and institutions, and eliminate the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth, and disinformation have over our politics and government. For more information visit costelloforsenate.com

While addressing cost-of-living concerns ranks highest among voters, the recent Netflix movie “A House of Dynamite” and President Trump’s call for renewed nuclear weapons testing highlights the need to reprioritize nuclear disarmament talks and the replacement of the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD) with that of mutually assured deterrence (i.e., the idea of nuclear armed nations’ having just enough nuclear weapons to deter advisories, but nowhere near enough to wipe out humanity)...

While not a fan of “horse race” political journalism, it is interesting that I placed third in UNH’s recent Maine US Senate race poll ahead of Jordan Wood whose campaign has already spent more than $2.1 million and has also enjoyed considerably more press attention... #MEpolitics