One year into his first term of office, Gov. Paul LePage will give his first annual assessment this week of the state of the state, where Maine is going and how he plans to get it there, all amid a lingering economic downturn.

Maine residents continue to grapple with a variety of concerns, many of them economic. They want more affordable energy, a balanced state budget and better job opportunities.

We asked 21 Mainers of all stripes to weigh in on the state’s most pressing issues and tell the governor what they’d like to hear him say during Tuesday’s State of the State address at 7 p.m.

We asked two questions:

Q1: What’s the most important issue facing Maine?

Q2: What would you like to hear the governor say?

JERRY ANDRESS

Age: 79

Residence: Cape Elizabeth

Occupation: Shopkeeper/framer

Party: Republican

Q1: Jobs

Q2: “I wonder if he’ll say anything about what we lost in Brunswick,” Andress said, referring to the decision by Kestrel Aircraft to locate in Wisconsin. “I’d like for him to give some explanation of what happened.” 

BROOKE BEAUCAGE-GHANS

Age: 34

Residence: Arundel

Occupation: Property management worker

Party: Democratic

Q1: “Health care.”

Q2: “What is he going to do for people who can’t afford health care?”

JULIE CHICOINE

Age: 47

Residence: Embden

Occupation: Bookkeeper, Motor Supply Auto Parts, Skowhegan

Party: Unaffiliated

Q1: “I think the welfare spending. Too many on the system, not enough working, too many abusers. It’s hurting the taxpayers. I work. Sometimes I’ve held a part-time job on top of a full-time job to make ends meet. I didn’t look for a handout.”

Q2: “I’d like him to assure the taxpayers that he is going to keep his commitment to shrink welfare spending and continue in his quest for job creation. I’m proud to say I voted for him the first time, and I would vote for him again.”

MICHELLE CLARKIN

Age: 39

Residence: Portland

Occupation: Sales clerk

Party: Unenrolled

Q1: “Improving the economy.”

Q2: “I wouldn’t mind our minimum wage increasing a little bit so we can make ends meet a little better.”

HEIDI DIPHILIPPO

Age: 73

Residence: Falmouth

Occupation: Wife/homemaker

Party: Democratic

Q1: Unemployment

Q2: “I won’t listen to him. I don’t like him.”

JIM GATES

Age: 59

Residence: Waterville

Occupation: Retired drafting and architecture teacher, Lawrence High School, Fairfield

Party: Unaffiliated

Q1: “Certainly, the economy and jobs. I think we need to sell Maine. It’s got good people; it’s a good place to live. Being an educator, I think we should do everything we can to improve our educational systems.”

Q2: “I’d like to see the more human side of him. I’d like him to step back and say, ‘We’ve gotten off to a rocky start and we need to work together, and here’s my initiative.’ I think people, in general, appreciate that he’s trying to improve Maine and make it a place for business.”

WALDO GILPATRICK

Age: 79

Residence: West Gardiner

Occupation: Part-time code enforcement officer for West Gardiner/alternate code enforcement officer for Gardiner

Party: Democratic

Q1: “I revert to the Constitution. It’s to promote the general welfare of society. Government does for all of us what we can’t do on our own individually.”

Q2: “I’m not sure. I guess I sort of differ with him because we hear people complaining about welfare, but it’s amazing how much corporate welfare there is.”

MELISSA HACKETT

Age: 30

Residence: Waterville

Occupation: Assistant manager, Barrels Community Market, Waterville

Party: Democratic

Q1: “Food in relation to farming as well as personal health. … I’d love to see more help for small farmers. I think there are a lot of young people in Maine who want to stay, and I think (farming) is a growing industry that needs to be supported.”

Q2: “I think he should talk about how he plans to grow the economy, as that relates to small business and community revitalization.”

PATRICK KENISTON

Age: 48

Residence: Cape Elizabeth

Occupation: Securities attorney

Party: Democratic

Q1: “The economy.”

Q2: “The issue I am most interested in is education. He talked about offering a fifth year for high school. I’d like to hear if anything is being done with that.”

MARIA LEATHERS

Age: 20

Residence: Bingham

Occupation: English major, University of Maine at Farmington

Party: Unaffiliated

Q1: “I agree with the governor that there needs to be a lot of health care reform, but what he is proposing is a little too extreme. And he needs to look at focusing on the abuses of the system instead of cutting things like funding for substance abuse care.”

Q2: “I would like to see him say what he would change specifically and what he would look at in detail concerning cuts to social services.”

BILL LONGFELLOW

Age: 44

Residence: Farmingdale

Occupation: Garden center employee

Party: Republican

Q1: “Keeping our budget under control and job creation.”

Q2: “I appreciate the fact that he’s working hard to cut where he has to cut. As a citizen, I want to support that. I want to hear that he is cutting areas to balance the budget.”

WALTER LONGFELLOW

Age: 51

Residence: Farmingdale

Occupation: Owner, Fuller’s Market, West Gardiner

Party: Republican

Q1: “Containing our costs … and making it so that businesses like mine, which employ most of the people of this state, can survive. Not only survive but thrive enough where we can give our employees raises and benefits.”

Q2: “I would like to hear that he’s still moving forward … on making it a business-friendly state. Most people feel if you own a business you’re immediately rich, but that’s just not the case. I would love to see him continue to try to improve the business climate in the state and reduce and remove regulations.”

CYNTHIA MADSEN

Age: 48

Residence: West Gardiner

Occupation: Store cashier

Party: Unenrolled

Q1: “Health care.”

Q2: “A better way, a better health care system. We’re on MaineCare, and it’s very hard to even get that. The other thing is the food stamp program. I know a lot of people who need it, but it also concerns me that a lot of people abuse it.”

DICK MCELHANEY

Age: 59

Residence: West Gardiner

Occupation: Contract superintendent, wastewater district

Party: Unenrolled

Q1: “Affordable energy. … Home heating fuel bills, gasoline prices, are just eating up disposable incomes and basically destroying the economy here in the state of Maine and nationally.”

Q2: “What he can to do address the cost of energy in the state of Maine. And I’m not talking about necessarily clean, green alternative energy because those are expensive — they have to be subsidized. I say, let the free market work and let people decide which energy alternative they want to choose. We shouldn’t be picking winners and losers.”

JAMAL MUKHDAR

Age: 40

Residence: Portland

Occupation: Taxi driver

Party: Democratic

Q1: “Education.”

Q2: “I’d like to hear what he has to say about education and about creating jobs.”

BEN MURELLO

Age: 66

Residence: Belgrade Lakes

Occupation: Retired from Department of Health and Human Services

Party: Conservative

Q1: “Reduction of debt, unemployment.”

Q2: “I’d like to see him say he will stay the course with all the promises he made during his campaign and work to reverse the welfare state of Maine.”

FRANK ROSEN

Age: 58

Residence: Hallowell

Occupation: Information systems

Party: Democratic

Q1: “Cuts to health care.”

Q2: “I’d like to hear they are not going to cut so much health care and support for the elderly.”

STEVE ROSS

Age: 70

Residence: East Waterboro

Occupation: Land surveyor

Party: Republican

Q1: “Getting a balanced budget.”

Q2: “I’d like to have him present a balanced budget.”

LISA SAVAGE

Age: 55

Residence: Solon

Occupation: Literacy coach, Carrabec High School, Anson

Party: Unaffiliated

Q1: “Recognizing that the natural resources of Maine should be held in common — they are the legacy of the future generation. Allowing for-profit corporations to use them up or pollute them is a losing proposition.”

Q2: “I would like the governor to say he had come to his senses and that he had reconnected with his working-class origins; that he was going to return the Maine labor history mural to its rightful spot and respect the voices of the 99 percent.”

JULIE SEXTON

Age: 22

Residence: Winthrop

Occupation: Nonprofit development worker

Party: Democratic

Q1: “Jobs.”

Q2: “I’d like to hear where the jobs are.”

LEIGH TILLMAN

Age: 30

Residence: Portland

Occupation: Farmer/meeting facilitator

Party: None

Q1: “Reassessing how government addresses local issues and meets the needs of people.”

Q2: “I would love to hear something in the speech about how government meets the needs of people, hearing alternatives about how we deal with the budget.”

MaineToday Media Staff Writers Amy Calder, Mechele Cooper, Craig Crosby, Doug Harlow, David Hench, Ben McCanna, Andy Molloy, Erin Rhoda and David Robinson contributed to this report.