Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate David Costello Urges No Vote on Question 1 and Yes on Question 2 in November

 

BRUNSWICK (Sept. 25, 2025) -- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Costello will vote NO on Referendum Question 1 and YES on Referendum Question 2 in November and urged Maine voters to do the same. The two referendum questions will appear on Maine's Nov. 4 state-wide election ballot.

Election integrity has been a priority of Costello's since he worked to improve Maine’s elections laws and practices as a senior aide to Maine Secretary of State Bill Diamond and on elections overseas in the 1990s. 

"I have always backed efforts to enhance elections integrity and security, while simultaneously working to increase voter participation by making it easier -- not harder -- for people to exercise their right to vote.” Costello said, adding “while Republicans are promoting Question 1 as a simple voter ID bill, in fact it is much more complicated, in that it would diminish local control over elections in Maine and make it more difficult for eligible Mainers to vote, and in particular to vote by absentee ballot.”

“If the Republican Party is genuinely interested in improving elections security in Maine and elsewhere in the United States." Costello said, " it should back enactment of the national Freedom to Vote Act, a federal bill that would improve elections security, increase voter participation, and reinforce the legitimacy of elections results, by:

• modernizing nationwide voting infrastructure.

• mandating automatic voter registration, early voting, and no-excuse voting by mail.

• banning unreasonable voter purges, deceptive politicking, and partisan gerrymandering; and 

• reducing the inordinate influence of excessive campaign funding, including “dark money.”

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As for Question 2, which calls for a red-flag gun-safety law, Costello added, “like many Mainers, I grew up learning to hunt and shoot safely and responsibly. I took gun safety seriously then and, given the long-standing rise in gun violence, I take it even more seriously today. When people talk of gun safety, hunting, target shooting, and gun ownership are seldom, if ever, really at issue. At issue, is the proliferation in the sale and misuse of non-hunting guns and the weakening and rejection of laws designed to reduce gun violence. "

"While I would never support denying responsible, law-abiding citizens their right to own a gun, I do support the enactment of common-sense gun safety laws and regulations, including laws to address related mental health issues. Gun violence is on the rise throughout the United States, and appallingly, since 2020, it has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children. Everything that can be done to reduce gun related deaths, injuries, and crime in the United States, should be done. To continue to do less is unacceptable.”
"The fact that the U.S. House and Senate have done little over the last 30 years to address gun violence is unconscionable," Costello said, "This is an area where the states must take the lead."