Sara Gideon

Sara Isher Gideon (born December 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party from Freeport, she represented the 48th district in the Maine House of Representatives, which includes part of Freeport and Pownal in Cumberland County.

Gideon was the Democratic nominee for the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Maine, losing to incumbent Republican Susan Collins.

Early life and education Gideon was born and raised in Rhode Island. Her father, a pediatrician, is from India and her mother, a nurse clinician, is a second-generation Armenian American. Gideon was raised Christian. She graduated from East Greenwich High School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1989. In 1994, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Career

Early career She served as an intern for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell. She also worked as an advertising account executive at USA Today.

In 2004, Gideon moved to Freeport, Maine. She served until 2012, and was the council's vice chair beginning in 2011. In 2016, she was elected as Speaker by the House. As speaker, Gideon also supported Medicaid expansion in Maine, including the 2017 referendum on the topic, and helped override Governor Paul LePage's veto of a bill to make the anti-overdose drug naloxone (Narcan) available over-the-counter, aimed at preventing deaths from the opioid epidemic.

Gideon was a member of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. According to India Abroad, "she worked to lower energy costs, encourage increased energy efficiency and promote clean and renewable energy to capitalize on Maine's natural resources and build a clean-energy economy." As speaker in 2019 and 2020, Gideon also sponsored legislation to expand abortion access by allowing physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to perform the procedure. She sponsored legislation to block the Quebec power company Hydro-Québec from spending money to influence a referendum of a controversial proposed power line project in Maine.

In 2019, Gideon faced an election ethics complaint for accepting reimbursements for her personal political donations from her own PAC. A spokesperson said, "The contributions were within the legal limit and fully disclosed, but the committee was given incorrect guidance on how to process them." In October 2019, the Maine Ethics Commission voted unanimously to fine the closed PAC $500. In the first week of her campaign, she raised more than $1 million. Gideon ran against Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman in the ranked-choice Democratic primary election. as well as labor unions and women's groups. By the time of the primary election, she had raised $23 million.

Following her Democratic primary win in June, Gideon received endorsements from NARAL, EMILY's List, Progressive Democrats of America, Brand New Congress, and Our Revolution. In August, former President Barack Obama endorsed Gideon. In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country's largest LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, opposed the reelection of Susan Collins and instead endorsed Gideon. It was the first time that the HRC has opposed Collins, who has been seen as a key Republican vote on LGBTQ rights.

The hotly contested race became the most expensive in Maine history, with Collins spending $23 million and Gideon nearly $48 million. The race also had national implications, as defeating Collins was a key part of the Democrats' strategy to achieve a Senate majority.

Gideon ultimately lost the election by over 8% to Collins. Gideon was defeated despite leading Collins in nearly every public poll.

Gideon underperformed winning Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden by 10.6%. Her performance was the second-worst underperformance by a Democratic Senate candidate in the country. She supports allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs, and a prohibition on pharmaceutical company "pay to delay" agreements. She states she will fight any attempts to attack or defund Planned Parenthood; will work to roll back the Title X gag rule, which has impacted Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood clinics. Gideon has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL. Gideon opposed the Trump tax bill. and has expressed support for high-capacity magazine restrictions. Gideon supports various police reforms, including a police misconduct registry and requirements for the use of body cameras and vehicle cameras. According to her sister Melanie, Gideon agreed to convert to Judaism as part of an agreement in which Rogoff took the Gideon surname. Benjamin Gideon is a medical malpractice and personal injury attorney at Gideon Asen LLC.

Electoral history

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020