Brewery owner Dan Kleban is entering the race for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat Wednesday with a campaign focused heavily on environmental matters.
Kleban is joining what is becoming a crowded field of Democrats hoping to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R), a moderate and frequent electoral target who hasn’t yet decided whether to run for a sixth term. Already, three Democrats have launched bids; Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has not ruled out a run.
Kleban, who previously said he had considered a Senate run in 2020, is leaning on his experience starting Maine Beer Co. in 2009 and running it since then with his brother, David.
“In Maine, we make some of the best beer in the world, and that’s because we have some of the best water in the world. So I understand, from an economic side — being able to make good beers — the importance of clean and abundant water sources,” Kleban told POLITICO’s E&E News ahead of his campaign launch.
He notes that climate change also makes it difficult for the farmers who grow the grains brewers need.
“The environment and the economy are intrinsically linked. We can’t have a robust and prospering economy if we don’t have a planet and a climate that’s accommodating to it.”
He also took Republicans to task for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which ends many incentives for renewable energy.
“It disinvests in the energy sources of the future, and it’s doubling down on the energy sources of the past. We’re selling out my kids’ future, and we’re missing an incredible opportunity for economic investment in this country,” he said.
Kleban said Collins “has fallen short” on clean energy. “She’s failed to stand up when it counts. She’s failed to stand up for all the hard-working Mainers that were at work doing solar installations and wind installations up here.”
Collins voted against the megabill, citing its restrictions on Medicaid and food assistance, as well as the renewable energy provisions.
Focus on rising costs
Kleban’s company is part of One Percent for the Planet, under which it commits to donating 1 percent of its sales revenue to environmental organizations.
Kleban’s announcement comes two weeks after Graham Platner, an oyster farmer, launched his progressive bid for the Democratic nomination, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Other announced contenders include former Maryland state environmental official David Costello and Jordan Wood, a former aide to then-Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).
Kleban, a political newcomer, said he stands apart as someone ready and willing to fight.
“I think people are hungry for a leader who steps up and actually demonstrates how they’re going to make their lives better, that offers an inspirational vision future where they know that they or their kids or their grandkids are going to grow up in a world that’s better than what we’ve had in today,” he said. “I think that’s where we as Democrats have, frankly, fallen short.”
Overall, Kleban’s main focus is on rising costs. “I talk to folks and I hear stories about how they’re struggling, how their families are struggling, and I don’t see Susan Collins having the back of Mainers anymore,” he said.
“I know what it’s like to struggle. I’ve been there. I remember most of my 20s, I didn’t have health insurance, I was on my own,” he continued.
Collins won her 2020 race by a margin of more than 8 percentage points against Democrat Sara Gideon after many experts predicted the Republican would lose.
