- [Narrator] From Maine Public and the Portland Press Herald, Your Vote 2026 Debate between the two Republicans competing in Maine's 1st Congressional District Primary.

Live from Maine Public Studio in Lewiston, here's moderator, Jen Rooks.

- Hello and welcome.

For the next 30 minutes, we will hear from the two GOP candidates on the June 9th primary ballot.

They are seeking their party's nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree this fall.

They are Joshua Pietrowicz of New Gloucester.

He is 26 years old, a former sales consultant and a newcomer to politics.

And Ron Russell of Kennebunkport is 71, a retired career army officer and defense contractor.

He was the Republican nominee in the first district race two years ago.

Each will answer questions compiled by Maine Public and the Portland Press Herald.

Our two journalists here are Steve Missler, who is Maine Public's chief political correspondent, and Billy Kobin, political reporter for the Press Herald.

The candidates have 60 seconds to answer each question and they will be allowed an additional 30 seconds for any follow up or rebuttal.

The order of questioning was determined by a random drawing.

The first question from Steve Missler goes to Joshua Pietrowicz.

- Joshua, Republican candidates have repeatedly tried to gain a foothold in the 1st Congressional District, but they've fallen short since 1995.

Tell us why you think you're the best candidate to change that trend.

- You're right.

With Jim Longley Jr.

being the last Republican candidate to win this race back in November of 1994, it has certainly been an uphill battle.

It has been a drought for Republicans here in the 1st Congressional District, but I would also say that it's been a drought as far as Republicans here in New England.

I need to make a correction.

I said incorrectly a few weeks back that there was 27 seats as far as the House of Representatives representing the six states in New England.

It's 21.

Democrats control all 21 of those right now.

Whether we pick up one or somebody else does somewhere else, it's very critical that we do so.

And I think it's gonna take a fresh strategy, a fresh face, but the same common sense conservative ideas that are going out and talked about with the independents and with our common sense Republicans that maybe don't vote every two years like they should in our midterm elections, but they do come out to vote in the presidential elections.

We've just gotta get those guys off the couch, get them excited and win over the independents.

It is possible, but it's gonna take a little effort.

- Ron Russell, what do you think?

How can you change the trend?

Why are you the best candidate to do that?

- Well, I think I have the best experience for the job.

I think Josh has hit the nail on the head here in terms of getting the vote out.

But even if we win all of the Republicans, that's not gonna be enough to win the election.

So, my strategy is to hold town halls and to talk to Democrats and independents and try to convince them that my policies are better than my opponent's policies.

I think that is the way ahead.

- Steve, do you have a follow up question for them?

- I don't.

Go ahead, Billy.

- All right, Billy Kobin.

- Thanks, Ron, I'll start with you for this next one.

Both of you have expressed general support for the president's war in Iran at the moment.

What is your assessment of that campaign currently and how do you believe it has benefited Americans?

Again, we'll start with Ron.

- How do I believe it has benefited Americans?

- [Kobin] Correct.

- Well, my assessment of the campaign is it's gone very, very well from a military perspective and I've got the experience to be able to evaluate that.

We haven't achieved all of our goals and objectives yet because the Strait of Hormuz still is in Iran hands.

That is confusing to me because it's international waters and I don't know why the United Nations or other nations don't step in and alter that.

I think it has been beneficial and it will continue to be beneficial for the citizens of the United States because we have been held hostage by Iran for 49 years.

They have killed American citizens overseas for 49 years and now I think is the time for that to stop.

So I think we are on our way to that success here right now.

- Joshua, we'll go to you now.

- Well, I would say it's not necessarily been a benefit to the Americans other than the fact that national security has been pretty steadfast here in the home front for many, almost at least a hundred years, you know, going back to World War II.

It was just freak skirmishes and instances where the home front was actually affected.

But we're in a time now where if they were able to actually get a dirty bomb, it would be unfathomable what America the day after would look like if that was the case, whether that was in New York or any other city or even just out in the Midwest.

You know, if they crippled the country in some capacity, I think it's absolutely of the utmost paramount that we have the firmest national security policy possible.

But at the same token, if we spend a trillion dollars a year and we don't have to use that for offensive capability, I can sleep soundly at night knowing that, you know, peace through strength is still an option and I would support an ongoing naval blockade.

But at no point would I like to commit US troops to a ground invasion of Iran at this time.

- Billy, do you have a follow up?

- Yeah, on that note, I'll start with Joshua and then move back to Ron.

Under what circumstances, if any, would you support American troops on the ground in Iran?

- If there was credible intelligence shared with the American people that it was an absolute necessity and if Congress voted on it.

That is, I think, where I draw the line is it has to be an act of Congress that is of enough unity to proceed forward with.

Because I don't think the American people have the stomach for Iraq and Afghanistan 2.0 and I certainly don't think we need another quagmire in the Middle East for the next 20 years.

That's for sure.

- [Kobin] Thank you.

And Ron?

- Well, I don't think that I would take boots on the ground off the table as an option.

I think all of the options ought to be available to the president.

And again, like Josh said, I think if intelligence dictates that we need boots on the ground that I would put boots on the ground.

I think we may get to a sort of a diplomatic resolution here where boots on the ground are authorized because Iran is not going to counter those boots on the ground if we go in to get the uranium dust, as an example.

- Steve Missler?

- Joshua, one of the criticisms of Republicans in Congress is that they're unwilling to oppose the president's agenda even if they disagree with a part of it.

Where do you draw the line between loyalty to the president and sticking with what you think is best for your constituents?

- I think there's simply no point in which there is a line in which the president has my loyalty past the American people.

I think it is of utmost paramount that we have dissent within our Congress and within our own party so that way free ideas can be, as Ron often says, a good idea bubbles up from the bottom, and the chain of command can work off of that.

I hope that on my first day representing the good people of Maine, I get to shake Representative Massie's hand as he's leaving that Congress.

I'm saddened to see him go.

I didn't always agree with his stance on the war with Iran.

But I do believe that his voice of dissent, whether there was fear of repercussions or not, I think was healthy for America.

Whether it's not healthy for the Republican party or not is up to our primary voters to decide, but I do believe as a patriot, it's certainly healthy for the strength of this country.

- Russell, where's the line for you between loyalty to the president and, you know, loyalty to your constituents, or what you think is best for them?

- I don't think that I'm going down to Washington DC to be a rubber stamp for what President Trump wants.

I do agree for the most part with what President Trump has been trying to do and what he has executed so far.

I would tell you that, you know, we talk about drawing the line in support of President Trump.

The other side of the coin is why are we drawing the line in opposition to President Trump?

Just because it's President Trump that is proposing a solution.

So, we've gotta work across the aisle here to come up with solutions that are the best for the nation.

No law that has ever passed along party lines is good legislation because 50% of the country basically has been ignored if that is the case.

I support working across the aisle because that way the solutions are far better than they are if it's just a partisan solution.

- Josh, I just want to follow up with that and just ask, what issue is so important to you that you would go against the president wishes?

You mentioned, you know, Representative Massie and what happened to him because he had something he was passionate about.

What's a good example for you?

- I think there's a couple classic examples.

As far as the jet liners from Qatar, I don't necessarily see that as being in the best interest of the American people.

And he called it a putt, taking the putt.

I would call it taking a bribe if it's gonna go into your presidential library.

I didn't like that.

You know, that's something I'll go on the record publicly stating.

There's other things, but as far as what I do agree with President Trump on, it's that we need to have a revitalized American energy industry here that is domestically capable not only to fulfill our needs, but to sell abroad.

- [Missler] Ron, how about you?

- I would tell you, Steve, that's a hypothetical question and I give you a hypothetical answer, but I'm not willing to do that.

I will weigh every situation as it occurs and do my analysis and come up with what my decision is going to be, whether I'm going to support the president or not.

- Billy?

- Could I rebuttal with that?

- Yeah, sure.

- I would just ask, you know, we've seen now about five years of the two Trump administrations played out.

Was there any decision that you do disagree with, Ron?

- From President Trump?

- Yes, in his five years in elected office?

- I don't know if I would say that it's a decision I disagree with, how we go about articulating those decisions, the way he deals with personnel when he lets them go, I don't agree with how that happens.

It's not the way a leader treats subordinates, particularly when they're leaving.

So, that's one of the things that I don't like about President Trump.

- Very good, Colonel.

- Ron, is there a follow up you'd like to ask Joshua?

- Nope.

- All right.

Okay, Billy?

- Thank you.

- Yeah, thank you again.

I'll start with Ron on this one.

In your view, what's the most pressing or important issue for the people in the 1st Congressional District?

- The economy.

And I say that knowing that there are several factors to the economy that weigh into that issue.

So, jobs, good paying jobs.

Taxes are huge.

The cost of housing is huge.

The cost of healthcare is huge.

The fact that we don't have a business-friendly environment in our economy here currently in Maine is huge.

So, there are many, many things that factor into that, but that would be the area of focus.

- Joshua?

- Affordability.

How can young people afford to buy a home when interest rates are in the 5, 6, 7% bracket for good credit scores?

I mean, my goodness, you're gonna pay on average a $350,000 house which is close to the median average, and you know, statewide.

You're gonna pay over the course of a 30-year note the value of that home just to the bank itself.

You know, and if you go back prior to 2022, let's say, the average American getting into that market, they might have had a slightly higher home price, but they certainly didn't have that astronomical level of a rate.

It's one thing to say back throughout history, rates have been higher in the past and stuff, but that's also when you could buy a house for $12,000 in this country.

It's not the case anymore.

I think we need to have an ability and a market where people can actually get in to that note and afford it and then own their home someday so that when they do retire, they're just worried about property taxes and everything else rather than the mortgage on top of that and PMI and everything else that goes with it, so.

- Do you have a follow up?

- No, I think we'll move on to Steve.

- Okay, great.

- Thank you.

- Steve?

- Joshua, both of you, have expressed general support for President Trump's immigration agenda.

Do you agree with how his campaign has been carried in Maine and even in other states?

And if you don't, what would you have handled differently or wish that the administration had handled differently?

- Well, I do think that there are certainly some differences that I would see with the administration as far as, we need to have proper oversight with those officers if there is ever an abuse of force and they need to be dealt with swiftly.

In addition to that, though, I will say having ICE in Maine, we're here in Lewiston, obviously Ron and I are running to represent the 1st Congressional District, but when ICE was conducting Operation Catch of the Day, correct me if I'm wrong, but there was a 12-week period where in Lewiston, Maine, the city where we had a mass shooting in October of 2023 that was an astronomical tragedy and have several reoccurring shootings, but in that 12-week period where ICE was here and present, there were no shootings in downtown Lewiston.

So, clearly law and order has a place in this country.

I don't wanna see an overreaction by any stretch of the imagination, but we do need to back our law enforcement and trust the judicial process, but when it fails, we need to hold it accountable and those people that are failing us need to be held accountable and that includes prison time.

- I'm sorry, go ahead.

What do you, is there anything about how the administration has carried out this deportation campaign that you disagree with?

Or do you just think it's fine the way it is or the way it's- - I do not think that it is fine the way it is, but I don't necessarily find the administration at fault.

The fact that we have sanctuary cities and sanctuary states is a huge problem.

And what that prevents is coordination and cooperation between local, state, and federal law enforcement.

When that coordination and cooperation does not occur, you have operations to arrest people without any support from the local police.

And that is a recipe for disaster as far as I am concerned.

You see when cooperation increased after Tom Homan went out to Minneapolis, the amount of incidents decreased significantly by the cooperation and the coordination that occurred with local forces.

That's what has to happen.

It only makes sense.

I'll just use the corrections officer.

If state and local and federal authorities had talked, they would've agreed that he either needed to be picked up or not needed to be picked up.

- You're talking about the corrections officer in Cumberland County, correct?

- Exactly.

Yep.

- Yep.

- I guess, you know, there was, you mentioned Tom Homan, right, and how he came in and there was also a deescalation part on the administration's part too by bringing him in.

Isn't that right?

Do you feel like that change was almost an acknowledgement that the way it had been carried out before wasn't working?

- Partly.

I would say it was more a result of the fact that that cooperation was starting to occur.

When that cooperation occurs, you don't need to have the same number of forces that you do on the ground.

You cooperate, you pick a guy up at a jail cell as opposed raiding his house in, you know, wherever he's living.

So, I think it was a combination of both.

- [Missler] Oh, thanks for the clarification.

Appreciate it.

Yep.

- Billy?

- Switching gears again, we'll start with Ron.

Unlike members of the Senate and their staff, House members and their staffers can still bet on these prediction markets where we've seen billions bet on sports, politics, culture, other topics.

Do you believe that practice should be banned for House members?

We'll start with Ron.

- I certainly think it needs to be banned if insider trading and insider information is being used for that betting or trading.

You know, I day trade sometimes on the market, and I basically just look at what the stock is doing, how powerful the company is.

It's not because I have any insider information from Congress because I'm obviously not there.

But that's the way I would still do it if I was a member of Congress.

So, I don't think that we should prevent them from being able to trade.

We certainly, they ought to be arrested and thrown in jail if they are trading using insider information.

That's against the law.

- Joshua?

- Well, I would think as far as the rules in the Senate seem to make sense to me if you just copied them and brought them down to the House.

But as far as insider trading goes, I think that's an entirely different question where Ron and I would maybe differ.

I think $174,000 is a great salary plus, you know, all the travel benefits and everything else you get going along with being a representative.

Not to mention the retirement plan that also comes with that.

I don't necessarily think there's any need for a member of Congress to be able to day trade or do anything else, or their staff, personally.

I think if they are so close to the meat grinder that they should not have any type of, I guess outside influence, whether that's personal or non-personal or sharing that information, disseminating it to others, that would in any way compromise their vote or enrich somebody else while they're in there because of their process and their insider info.

So, members of Congress I don't think should be allowed to trade stocks while in office.

And I think whether that's something that goes into a blindly managed fund or a public sell-off, I think we do need some real reform in Congress.

- [Rooks] Billy, do you have any follow ups?

- Yeah, I will.

Again, I'll start with Ron.

Do you think a prediction market trading ban should extend to the executive branch as well?

So, not just talking about the House and Senate, but executive branch officials?

- I think it ought to extend to anyone who has access to insider information.

So, yes, the executive branch has the access to the same information.

In fact, probably more than members of Congress.

- [Kobin] Thank you.

And Joshua?

- I could certainly agree with that.

I think, what's the president's salary these days?

Over $400,000 a year?

That's certainly plenty.

You know, any public official in this country would be more than satisfied with something like that.

I don't think they need to be gaming the market and any outside factors or anything like that.

Their duty is to the American people, not to their portfolio.

- Thank you.

- Steve Missler?

- Joshua, last year, the president's One Big Beautiful Bill made an array of cuts to Medicaid, or what's known as MaineCare in the state.

More than 400,000 Mainers rely on that program for health insurance.

Would you have voted for that bill had you been in Congress?

- Not as the way it passed.

No.

In addition to that, there was also several things I had disagreements with.

As far as the 30,000 foot view, I think the president missed the fact that no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, making that $25,000, he needed to double that.

I think the American families wanted relief.

They were talked about with relief on the campaign trail in 2024.

That was such a popular idea.

You saw both sides use it down the stretch in October and I think $25,000 is not enough.

So, there was so many different iterations of that where I would've loved to see, using the Republican trifecta that we had, taking the latter part of the summer and into the fall to actually put forth legislation that I would've voted for.

And I just think the lack of compromise and lack of discussion within the party is not good for us right now.

That's one of the reasons why I'm running.

I think we need to be able to advocate for the people.

It's not to be a dissenter within the GOP, it's to be a patriot within the country that advocates for our citizens at home.

Either one of us will have the opportunity to represent about 700,000 Mainers and they deserve good representation.

- Ron Russell, what do you think?

Would you have voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill knowing what you know about Medicaid and, you know, 30% of the main population being a recipient of it?

- Yes, I would've voted for the bill because during COVID, the applicability of Medicare/Medicaid increased more than it should have been prior to COVID.

So, the increase in numbers is what we reduced it by when we passed the Great Big Beautiful Bill or when the government passed the Great Big Beautiful Bill.

So, it took it back to where it was because we don't suffer from COVID anymore.

So, I think that was an appropriate thing to do.

- Okay.

- Billy?

- Thanks.

Again, sticking with something that happened last year, Congress passed, or rather allowed, the Enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire.

Obviously, that featured a lot of debate, a shutdown, a lot of disagreements.

These ACA subsidies covered, at the time, about 54,000 Mainers.

Now, there are reports of Mainers dropping coverage because they feel they can no longer afford insurance without them.

Do you support reinstating those subsidies?

We'll start with Ron.

- No, I do not.

I think, again, the subsidies came as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act had a time limit on when those subsidies were supposed to go away and they should have gone away.

And what it pointed out is the Affordable Care Act really was the Unaffordable Care Act.

So, we're paying for healthcare that we shouldn't be paying for here.

Healthcare, we need to look at, that was one of my economy items there, the key things that I'm interested in.

Healthcare needs to be looked at because that's one of the largest expenses we have in our federal budget and our state budget.

The fact that we have the numbers we have on MaineCare right now is indicative of that.

- [Kobin] Thank you, and for Joshua, would you have allowed those subsidies to expire?

- I would've actually renewed them as a bridge.

This is where I differ from most of the Republican party.

I'm certainly a pro-gun guy.

That's one thing that's a non-negotiable for me, but how Americans get access to healthcare and making sure that somebody goes and has a cancer diagnosis that they're not instantly a half million dollars in debt through six months later.

To me, as far as being a Christian goes, I think we have to do a better job of advocating for our most vulnerable and making sure that they're not just getting trampled over by big pharma.

I think I do support a universal healthcare option, but allowing people to keep relationship with their current doctor, current provider, and everything else.

That would have to be the hybrid I'd have to find.

Similar to how folks drive a Prius that has a gasoline engine and a battery there, you know, there's a compromise where I think, you know, we already have about a third of the country on some form of socialized medicine.

Mainers and Americans are paying for it.

They might as well get a deal that includes them as well.

I think that's where I would differ with most Republicans and certainly be willing to work across the aisle for the benefit of all Maine people.

The one thing is I will be a fiscal hawk on that and I will not forego my principles.

We have to get a good deal.

It's that simple.

- We're getting close to closing statements.

So, instead of these longer questions, I'm gonna have Steve and Billy ask you all a few short questions, and shorter answers, hopefully.

Go ahead, Steve.

You can go first.

- Joshua, I'll just start with just what are your views on the war on Ukraine?

Do you believe the US should take a more active role in helping that country?

- I do not, actually.

I believe that that conflict would've been over far long ago without a very generous amount of US support and aid.

And I do not believe that the Russians are our eternal enemy like they've been made out to be in maybe the 20th century.

I think there is a peace that can be resolved there.

I think Zelenskyy is gonna have to make some compromises, but I certainly don't support sending billions overseas while we have people in this country that are struggling right now.

And you know, I do support as far as medical aid while that conflict goes on.

But I don't want to see any munitions or anything that they're not purchasing outright.

If it's something where we're giving blatantly and freely, I don't support that.

We have to do a better job.

We're $39 trillion in debt and if we can't do a better job at home, how can we expect to be the world police abroad?

It's clearly not worked well for us.

So, we need to end that conflict.

- [Missler] Ron, how about you?

- I think the Ukrainians are victims here.

They were attacked by Russia and I think we need to support them.

But like Josh, I don't think we need to issue them a blank check.

The way we are currently doing business is NATO pays for everything that we provide.

They reimburse the United States of America and I think that's exactly the way it should be.

It's really more their problem than it is our problem.

But they need support.

And when we were providing support, we actually had boots on the ground at one particular point in time.

They were far more effective than they are currently.

So, I do think we should continue to support.

- Now the candidates have a chance to give their closing statement to the people of Maine.

Ron, you're first.

- My name is Ron Russell.

I'm a native of Fort Fairfield, Maine.

My father was a potato farmer and my mother was a school teacher.

So, my brother and three sisters learned the value of hard work and a good education at a very early age.

As you have seen here tonight, the issues between Josh and I are not that significant.

But what is significant is the amount of life experience, the lessons learned, the things that you've succeeded at and the things that you have failed at.

And I've got, being 71 years old, 45 more years of that life experience than Josh does.

We have, in a picture, that shows the crash site in Iran in 1980 after the failed attempt to rescue the hostages there.

And it says, "Do not confuse enthusiasm with capability."

So, I would ask the voters out there, don't confuse enthusiasm with capability.

I'm the one with the experience and the capability to be successful in Washington DC.

- Joshua?

- I think it's undoubtable.

The colonel has over 350 jumps in his 30 years and 28 days serving this great nation.

16 years ago, he probably would've been an ideal candidate to maybe unseat a one-term Representative, Chellie Pingree, here in the 1st Congressional District.

I can tell you this, we're in Lewiston.

We're running for the 1st Congressional District here in Maine.

But I was born here.

I am a lifelong Mainer and I represent the values from Aroostook County all the way down to York where I go and see Ron.

But the difference between Ron and I is there is a level of energy that is just not present with his campaign in 2024 or currently this year.

And what we're seeing is, in 2024, Colonel Russell lost his district by 95,000+ votes.

And that is a margin that no Republican in the last decade has been able to crack 37%.

In 109 municipalities, he won two of them by more than 1,000 votes.

We need a fresh face.

We need new energy, new blood.

People tell me that all the time.

I'm here offering that to you.

And I ask for your vote on June 9th.

Thank you.

- And that is the final word.

Thank you to our candidates, Joshua Pietrowicz and Ron Russell.

You can find this and other Your Vote 2026 Election programs at mainepublic.org/yourvote and at pressharold.com/mainematters.

On behalf of Steve Missler and Billy Kobin, I'm Jennifer Rooks.

Thank you for joining us.

(upbeat patriotic music)