Joanne Mason follows Maine politics and elections closely. She’s chair of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee. Joanne lives in Readfield with her husband, Ken, the county’s elected sheriff. Readfield, like so many Maine communities, is narrowly divided politically. In 2024, its residents cast 900 votes for Kamala Harris and 875 votes for Donald Trump. You never know where a conversation will lead once you hit record. Forty minutes into our chat, Joanne shared a family story on the far-reaching, traumatic impact of recent ICE raids across the country. Before we got there, she touched on issues resonating in 2026, how she sizes up candidates, the volatile political climate in recent years and the more forgiving, collegial style of politics she experienced growing up in Augusta and raising her own family in Readfield.
