Maybe that's a question for Heather Cox Richardson in Maine, I'm writing from Northern California.

Thanks. I’m in Washington and just trying to figure out from 3000 miles away what those “independent-minded” Mainers are thinking!

Because the local news media runs constant misinformation about her record. All those times she calculates her votes to vote "in opposition" to her party are headlined as heroic stands in the Bangor Daily News and other outlets. Folks really believe that "moderate independent" crap.