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Bre Kidman
Bre Kidman (Democratic Party) (also known as Bee Kay) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Maine. Kidman lost in the Democratic primary on July 14, 2020.
Kidman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Bre Kidman was born in Providence, Rhode Island. They earned a bachelor's degree from Loyola University, Chicago, in 2009 and a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law in 2016. Kidman's career experience includes working as a public interest attorney, artist, and activist. They are a law fellow with the National Center for Transgender Equality and a policy fellow with Maine's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: United States Senate election in Maine, 2020
United States Senate election in Maine, 2020 (July 14 Democratic primary)
United States Senate election in Maine, 2020 (July 14 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Maine
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Susan Collins in round 1 .
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Total votes: 819,183 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Linda Wooten (Independent)
- Danielle VanHelsing (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate Maine
The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Sara Gideon in round 1 .
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Total votes: 162,681 |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jonathan Treacy (D)
- Cathleen London (D)
- Ross LaJeunesse (D)
- Michael Bunker (D)
- Christine Gates (D)
Republican primary election
Republican Primary for U.S. Senate Maine
The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Susan Collins in round 1 .
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Total votes: 88,448 |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Derek Levasseur (R)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bre Kidman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kidman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I never thought I would run for office. While I have experience crafting both federal and state policy, I thought that a queer survivor of violent crime could never fit the mold of what a politician should be... but the more I thought about that, the more I realized: the reason our representation is so bad is that we have come to believe that overly polished, scripted, multi-million dollar funded replicas of humanity are the people we are supposed to entrust with decisions about complicated human needs. When you stop and think about it, it doesn't make sense.
I'm the kind of person who shows up, who answers my emails and phone calls personally, who doesn't pre-script answers to debate questions, and who can't be bought or sold by corporate interests. I'm the kind of person who believes actions speak louder than words. I'm the kind of person who says exactly what I mean, straight to your face. Most importantly: I'm the kind of person who believes that our country desperately needs representation that is truly representative of average American lives... and I'm the kind of person who will never stop fighting for that.We should not have to spend our hard earned money on campaigns to ensure that we get the kind of representation that we deserve from our elected officials.
Medicare for All is the only way forward for healthcare. Any industry which profits from making sure we get as little healthcare as possible for our dollar has no right to exist in this country.
- The Green New Deal provides a roadmap to turn the climate emergency into an opportunity to create economic justice in this country.
-Medicare for All/Single Payer Healthcare: The profit-motivated system of health insurance causes illness, death, and poverty. Medicare for All would cost less than what we're currently doing-and that's BEFORE we examine the hidden social and economic costs of healthcare tied to wealth.
-The Green New Deal: Our transition to a green power economy is the greatest opportunity we've ever had to build economic justice.
-Ending Mass Incarceration: We stand to gain a significantly better return on investment if we stop dumping money into criminalization and start using our resources to help people recover and thrive.
-Racial and Economic Justice: America was built by slave labor, and we owe a debt to those who have suffered generational poverty as a result.
I look up to Chase Strangio and Harper Jean Tobin-both lawyers working in LGBTQ+ rights in the last decade, and both absolutely fearless and sharp legal minds, gaining tons of ground for trans people.
I should note: I don't intend to change this much if elected. I know form letters are a standard practice, but it's important to me that my constituent services team is trained to flag messages from constituents that raise concerns not addressed in prepared responses so that I can personally consider them and respond. Having experienced years of unresponsive messages from Susan Collins' office, this is a major priority for me.
In the same vein, I believe creativity and the understanding that actions speak louder than words are critical to being an effective representative. Once one has a strong understanding of procedure, a creative problem solver will find ways to leverage their power and their position to get things done. A person who values actions over empty talk will find ways to keep their campaign promises, and to show up for their constituents in a way that I think has become somewhat unexpected in modern times and, again, could truly become a healing force with regard to the ways civic engagement has become stifled in this country.
I work hard to speak truth to power wherever I go, and to ensure I consider perspectives beyond my own.
I am prepared to change my mind when presented with compelling new information, and I am not so ego-driven as to be unable to admit when I am wrong.
I am voraciously curious and research decisions and procedure with great skill and enthusiasm.
I am a creative problem solver who never lets the scale of a goal stop me from fighting to achieve it.
I have a somewhat uncanny ability to see multiple sides of a problem, and to draw out the shared values and concerns between the parties to find a resolution that meets needs that may initially appear to be in conflict.
I have nearly boundless energy when presented with a challenge, and am prepared to devote the entirety of the next six years to fighting for the rights of middle class, working class, and poor people.
While I do have white privilege, educational privilege, and some degree of financial privilege, I have never financially benefited from the political power structure in place and, so, unlike most people who would seek this office, I have no stake in preserving the parts that are harmful to ensuring high quality representation.
LISTEN to your constituents and make space for them to be truly heard.
Enact holistic solutions that maximize the use of our shared resources to provide the greatest possible benefit to the greatest possible number of people.
Protect the integrity of our Courts and the Executive Branch offices.
Research issues meticulously and ensure your sources are centered on people who have lived experience relevant to the subject at hand.
Fight for marginalized people and to ensure every legislative discussion includes the question of who is left out or harmed by a given policy decision.
Show up for votes well-informed and well-prepared.
I want to be the first transgender member of Congress, and the person who stood in the room and forced those who would oppose our rights to look a transgender person in the eye first.
9/11 is the first historical event I remember with much clarity, and I was 13 at the time.
(My playlist tends get a little bouncier than usual during Pride.)
I was kidnapped as a teenager and escaped after a brief experience with human trafficking. For most of my life, I believed that I was too broken to truly do anything that mattered. In spite of this, I took on leadership roles in college, maintained a customer service career during the recession of the late 2000's, and graduated law school magna cum laude, with several policy fellowships under my belt and a new career in indigent defense. No matter what life has thrown at me, I have always found a way to land on my feet and make it work.
When I decided to run for US Senate, I knew I had the legal and policy knowledge to be effective, but my fear was that being the first non-binary person to run and being a survivor of violent crime would hold me back. When I discovered that the greatest barrier to being elected was the fact that I am a median income Mainer who doesn't have a network of wealthy people ready to finance my campaign, I realized something important: I have the skills and the knowledge to perform the duties of a Senator exceptionally well. What I don't have is the political baggage that compromises the judgement of most of our elected officials.
The pervasiveness of the idea that the candidate with the most money wins the election is nauseating, and has only become worse in recent years as national arms of parties (like the DSCC and DCCC) involve themselves in local primaries, funneling disproportionate resources to their chosen candidates to ensure they are able to override the will of the voters in a purely ideological comparison by sheer volume of advertising.
Our elections were never meant to be auctions. Most Mainers agree that an election CAN be bought, but not a single person I've met thinks that an election SHOULD be bought. I believe we must focus on electing leaders who will commit to ensuring procedural fairness.
However, perhaps the most powerful difference the Senate holds (as opposed to the House or other governmental bodies) is the power of advice and consent. These powers allow the Senate to examine and approve judicial nominees (including to the Supreme Court), Cabinet members and a number of other Executive Branch officials, and treaties-among other things. These powers allow the Senate to be one of the most powerful checks and balances on other branches of government, as their investigation and deliberation in these matters is often the most extensive dive for information about how we conduct our relationships with other countries and about the people who are selected to make decisions of immense public importance. In this role, the Senate is truly charged with ensuring other government officials and actions not subject to direct popular vote are well-suited to address the needs of their constituents.
I am deeply perturbed by the emphasis put on campaigning with regard to all lawmakers. It seems to me that most decisions are framed in media by what impact they will have in the next election, and by how much money the decision will yield from donors with deep pockets and special interest groups. I believe that it's much more important to focus on a candidate's ability to become familiar with procedural rules and to leverage those rules to their greatest advantage. After someone is elected, I would rather see a senator who can then quickly put those procedural rules to use advocating for the needs of their constituents, rather than playing political chess to angle for re-election. I think most people with experience in government and politics are used to treating the act of legislating like a game to ensure the best chance of re-election, and I don't believe that experience brings anything valuable to the office.
2. Does the appointee have any outstanding issues with moral character and fitness that may interfere with their ability to faithfully perform the function of their job? Do they have a history of dishonest or disreputable behavior that calls their judgement into question?
3. Does the appointee have any conflicts of interests-whether personal or business-that may interfere with their ability to faithfully perform the function of their job in a way that centers the needs of the American people? Would granting this person the power to make decisions in their job function allow them to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of the American people?
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 17, 2020
