Steve Mistler
Chief Political Correspondent and State House Bureau ChiefJournalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.
Steve has been a journalist for nearly two decades, specializing in the coverage of politics and state government. His work has been recognized by the Maine Press Association, Gerald Loeb and regional Murrow awards for investigative projects and accountability journalism. He was named the MPA’s Journalist of the Year in 2011 for his coverage of municipal and state government. He later received a Public Service in Radio from the Society of Professional Journalists and a writing award from the Public Radio News Directors for his retrospective of former Gov. Paul LePage.
He joined Maine Public in 2016 after a career in newspaper reporting. He and his family live in Maine.
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Gov. Janet Mills has vetoed five bills enacted by the Maine Legislature and lawmakers have been unable to muster the two-thirds support needed to override her. -
State Sen. Rick Bennett announced Tuesday that he's unenrolling from the Republican party to run for governor as an independent, an entry that could shake up the 2026 contest. -
Democrats who control the legislature passed the $320 million bill along party lines. Mills says the package contains compromises and tradeoffs. -
The Maine House of Representatives, the site several bitter partisan fights this year, paused Wednesday to remember former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Officials have said their murders were politically motivated. -
At least one national Republican group has already donated half a million dollars to the group behind the referendum. New campaign finance filings signal that the issue will draw opposition and spending from Democratic organizations, too. -
While proposal prohibiting transgender girls from competing on girls' and women's sports teams narrowly cleared the House, it was defeated in the Senate alongside a slate of other related bills. -
Maine Senate votes down bills barring transgender athletes from participating on girls' sports teamsBarring a reversal, the votes could doom a slate of bills that have gained scrutiny following the February confrontation between Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump. -
Libby was censured for criticizing a transgender high school athlete in a social media post. Her punishment was upheld in two preliminary rulings but a recent order to restore her voting rights by the U.S. Supreme Court may have changed the trajectory of the case. -
The bill creating an annual day of remembrance on the anniversary of the 2021 riots comes as President Donald Trump attempts to rewrites the history of the attacks. -
Libby ran for governor in 2002, losing the Republican primary to Peter Cianchette. This time he's bringing a focus on energy as a tool for economic development and more collaboration between Republicans and Democrats.
