State Sen. Garrett Mason of Lisbon Falls is the only Republican who received the national pro-gun group’s top grade of A+. (Sun Journal file photo)
The National Rifle Association has given all seven Democratic candidates in the race to be Maine’s next governor an F grade on their election year scorecard, while awarding all four Republicans in the race an A grade.
Only one Republican, state Sen. Garrett Mason of Lisbon Falls, received the national pro-gun group’s top grade of A+. Another Republican candidate and legislator, Maine House Minority Leader Ken Fredette of Newport, received an A grade.
The other two Republican candidates, Mary Mayhew, a former commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services from South China, and Shawn Moody, a Gorham businessman and entrepreneur, received an “AQ” grade, signifying that they are pro-gun candidates but do not have voting record on Second Amendment legislation.
The grades are issued by the NRA’s political arm, the NRA-Political Victory Fund and come just about a week before Maine voters head to the polls to select their respective party’s candidates.
Mason’s A+ is the result of his voting record but also for having, “made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment,” according to a description of the grades on the NRA’s web site. Fredette’s A rating represents a candidate who is, “solidly pro-gun” and who has been supportive of the NRA in key votes as an elected official.
Meanwhile, the Fs for all seven Democrats in the race represent a candidate who is a “true enemy of gun owners’ rights” and supports or sponsors gun control measures or actively leads gun control legislative efforts.
Democrats will likely tout their failing NRA grades while Republicans will embrace the grades in Maine – a state where the Legislature has consistently backed gun-owner rights, including a law change in 2015 that eliminated permit requirements for adults over the age of 21 who want to carry a concealed handgun in public.
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