Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) called for an end to the Electoral College at a Wednesday night debate hosted by News Center Maine, citing his kindergarten education in support of his position.

Rob Caldwell, the debate moderator, brought up the phenomenon of candidates winning the presidency with electoral votes despite losing the popular vote.

He asked if the Electoral College should be abolished in response.

“Yes. It’s a gun pointed at the head of democracy,” said Sen. King.

King elaborated on the position, claiming that the current state of the electoral college does not align with the version proposed by Alexander Hamilton in his Federalist Papers.

“It’s never worked the way it was designed, it was supposed to be a kind of council of elders that would then pick the best person as president,” said King.

King was particularly distressed that the political process for selecting the country’s chief executive has become a political process.

“It immediately turned into a much more political kind of process,” King added.

Although the current system of the Electoral College has strayed from the one laid out in Federalist 68, Hamilton nevertheless acknowledged the dangers of allowing a direct democracy.

“The choice of several, to form an intermediate body of electors, will be much less apt to convulse the community with any extraordinary or violent movements, than the choice of one who was himself to be the final object of the public wishes,” said Hamilton.

King expressed support for the kind of direct democracy feared by Hamilton, even while citing the Electoral College’s deviation from Hamilton’s ideal as a reason for its end.

After mentioning Hamilton’s influential work, King appealed to the authority of kindergarten teachers.

“We potentially could have a third time in this century where the person who didn’t get the most votes ends up president. That doesn’t correspond with what any of us learned in kindergarten, the most votes wins,” said King.

King went on to express support for term limits for Supreme Court justices, another drastic change to the nation’s system of governance.

Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine GOP, put out a statement criticizing King for his position on the electoral college.

“King likes to brand himself as a moderate, but this is a far cry from moderation. Mainers deserve a leader who respects our constitutional framework and the voices of every state in this country,” said Savage.

He urged Mainers to support King’s Republican challenger, Demi Kouzounas instead.

Kozounas opposed a switch to a national popular vote, warning that more populous states such as New York would then have all the power, and Maine would lose its impact on presidential elections.

King has worked to portray himself as a moderate independent, but his position on the Electoral College aligns him with far-left Democrats, such as Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.).

Earlier this month, Gov. Walz called for the Electoral College to be replaced by a national popular vote.

“I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote,” said Walz.

King has voted with the Biden-Harris Administration 98.5 percent of the time.

Maine signed on to the Interstate National Popular Vote Compact earlier this year, following support from Democrats in the state legislature.

The compact promises that when enough states sign on to account for the 270 electoral votes required for a presidential victory, Maine, along with other states in the compact, will cast its electoral votes for the victor of the national popular vote.

The compact currently has 209 of the 270 electoral votes needed for it to go into effect.