Shenna Bellows, the Democrat challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is going the distance to raise awareness of her Senate bid.
On Sunday, Bellows will begin a walk down the 350-mile length of Maine, National Journal reports. She will begin in Houlton and end up in Kittery three-and-a-half-weeks later, and will visit some 63 communities in the interim.
She will reportedly be outfitted in Maine-made New Balance sneakers and an L.L. Bean raincoat.
"This sort of walk may not work in 2014 in some states like New York or Florida. But Maine is one large small town," Bellows told the magazine. "I'll be hosting events on a daily basis, engaging in house parties and breakfasts, and tours of local downtowns and communities left out by Washington politics."
Bellows, who is a former executive director of Maine's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, is down in the polls by double-digits against Collins, who has high approval ratings in the state and a significant fundraising advantage.
While Bellows is emphasizing her stances on civil liberties, she faces a challenge in drawing independent-minded voters away from Collins, who recently came out in support of marriage equality and who has the backing of national environmental groups.
However, Bellows hopes her walk will help her connect with supporters and emphasize her progressive roots.
“We change things,” Bellows said Friday, according to the Associated Press. “We can stand up for true grass-roots participation in our politics and that’s what the walk represents.”
Bellows' journey resembles the endeavors of other underdog Democratic Senate candidates, like West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, who announced that she would visit every one of her state's 55 counties, and Rick Weiland, who completed a tour of every one of South Dakota's 311 incorporated towns.
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