The race for Senate District 10 clearly is shaping up as a race along ideological lines.

Democratic incumbent Stan Gerzofsky, currently finishing his second term, is a center-leaning liberal from Brunswick who says he believes government can and should make a difference in people’s lives, without becoming onerous.

Republican candidate Ralph Dean, on the other hand, is a conservative from Freeport with Libertarian tendencies. He favors a smaller, more effective government that gives people what they need when they need it and otherwise gets out of their way.

Philosophically, the two candidates share little.

They agree that, economically and socially, Maine is better off than some other states, but also that much remains to be done. They also agree that education is key to job creation and growth of the middle class.

But with regard to practical achievement of those goals, Gerzofsky and Dean diverge. For example, each supports bonding as means of funding, but only for infrastructure and revenue-generation projects.

Gerzofsky supports marriage equality. But, for Dean, the issue presents a dilemma.

“The conservative in me says you don’t toss out the definition of marriage that has served society well for a millenium,” Dean said. “But my libertarian side says there’s this thing in the Constitution called the Equal Protection Clause, and people deserve equal protection under the law.”

He cites the existing domestic partneship law, which provides for most — but not all — of the benefits of marriage.

“I think the way things are now, it could be tweaked under the domestic partnership law,” he said. “Is the small benefit from a ‘yes’ on the referendum worth the unknown risk of tossing out the definition of marriage as we know it, and I say no.”

Gerzofsky is a self-admitted lifelong activist. He is a major proponent of publicly-funded education and a champion of organized labor. He played a large role in pushing expansion of the community college system through the Legislature, including establishment of a Southern Maine Community College campus at Brunswick Landing.

“The college still needs to expand to its potential because we still have jobs that people have to be trained for,” Gerzofsky said. “To me, that college is all about business development, it’s about job creation.” Conversely, Dean is a political late-comer who decided to get into politics only after he concluded that the state’s leadership needs help and that he had skills and viewpoints to offer.

He wants dramatic reformation of taxation, spending and education policies. He favors vouchers and charter schools with streamlined eligibility processes.

“Statewide, only a little over one-third of the kids are performing at grade level,” he said. “It’s a little better here in the Mid-coast, where it’s about 54 or 57 percent, depending on who you talk to. But I don’t think that almost one in every two kids in this area is either too stupid or too unmotivated to perform at grade level. I don’t see it. The problem is in the schools. We need to provide a little bit of incentive and a whole lot of choice for parents to do what’s right for their kids.”

Dean also said he wants to see the state income tax eliminated by 2020.

“There are other taxes that are equally odious, particularly the so-called business equipment tax and personal property taxes. Other states don’t have it, and it’s a complete drag on small businesses, in particular,” Dean said.

A fan of privatization and free markets, Dean doesn’t believe government should be involved in driving the economy.

Gerzofsky describes the LePage administration as well-intentioned but on the wrong track, and describes himself as a bipartisan personality, able to set aside political differences to accomplish what’s best for voters.

“Brunswick is not (Gov. LePage’s) favorite town, it hasn’t been for the last couple of governors,” he said. “But we’ll sit down and talk, and it won’t be a (spitting) contest. I don’t roll over for anybody, and they respect that when you’re able to work both sides of the aisle without abandoning your principles or values.”

Dean declares the 125th Legislature not only on the right track but needing another two years to get down that track as far as it can.

“During the last two years, the Legislature has really just started to turn the state’s government in a different direction, and it’s showing some promise, I think,” he said. “If — big if — the electorate lets the state continue down that path, I think it will lead to some greater economic opportunity.”

jtleonard@timesrecord.com