Maine Democrat ‘Mermaid’ Senate Candidate Chooses Guillotine as Campaign Symbol

Bre Kidman, the “queer feminist mermaid” running for a senate seat in Maine, has chosen the guillotine as branding for her campaign.

Kidman entered the race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in April 2019, inspired by the fight against the confirmation of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kidman describes herself as a non-binary, “queer feminist lawyer, mermaid, writer, activist, and artist.”

“All the work I’ve done has been in the interest of helping people make their life work better, and I don’t think that’s in contrast with a run for office,” Kidman told the Washington Free Beacon at the time. Now, the novice candidate has chosen a very distinct symbol for her message.

“The guillotine is an image which calls to mind what people have done for revolution before,” Kidman said. “If we can find a better path to revolution than that, we owe it to ourselves and our country.” The choice was inspired by the 18th-century execution device’s use during the French Revolution and is meant to symbolize revolt by lower- and middle-class people.

Kidman, whose campaign has raised about $16,000, said it was also chosen out of frustration at the way money has polluted our politics. “I don’t think the process we currently have allows for working and middle class people to be raising millions of dollars,” Kidman said. “I think we have to find ways that open the doors to getting more people at the table.”

Still, she wants to be clear that the campaign branding should not be taken literally. “We’re not going to start a guillotine in Monument Square [in Portland] and start beheading people,” Kidman said. “It’s a symbol of the work we have to do to overcome flaws in our system – flaws that have become deeply evident in the last few weeks.”