BRUNSWICK

After receiving official recognition from the state, Brunswick’s Jim Bouchard is making a run for the 1st Congressional District seat as Maine’s first certified Libertarian candidate.

Bouchard is taking on Republican Mark Holbrook, also of Brunswick, and the incumbent, Democrat Chellie Pingree of North Haven.

Missing the deadline for filing, Bouchard will be running as a write-in candidate this November.

Born in Connecticut, Bouchard moved to Maine in 1980, and has lived in Brunswick for about 20 years, founding the Northern Chi Martial Arts Center.

Bouchard sold the martial arts business as his speaking business began to take off.

“I take the philosophies of martial arts and I apply them to leadership,” Bouchard said.

He and his wife, Alex Armstrong, travel the country, speaking and hosting trainings and workshops.

The former Republican said he’s been more of a Libertarian in his mind for years.

“I didn’t choose to be a Libertarian — I just sort of discovered that I was one over time,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard said the morning of the Libertarian convention in Maine, he cut his Republican ties and during a call for open nominations, he suddenly found himself in the race for Congress — something he said was quite an honor.

Steering away from what he sees as the vitriolic struggle between the Democrats and Republicans, Bouchard doesn’t judge the characters of those involved in Washington today, but the process.

“This idea of constant struggle over control — that someone has to win decisively to get things done, that’s not reflective of the general mindset of Americans,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard pointed to matters like immigration, in which many Republicans and Democrats have proposed similar approaches but have not been able to reach a resolution, leaving the matter at a stalemate.

“We get painted as being crazy,” Bouchard said of Libertarians. “If the status quo is the definition of sanity, then I’ll take the crazy label.”

Bouchard said the entire platform of the Libertarian party can be summed up as “don’t steal stuff from people and don’t hurt one another.”

On issues such as drug abuse, the environment and military, Bouchard is clear on the Libertarian stance.

“As far as the drugs go, I think I’m the only candidate that openly admits a past with drug abuse,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard said he used opioids, adding that he should have been “dead or arrested several times over” as a result.

Bouchard said he is now clean, and with this perspective in mind, believes that decriminalization of drugs and an emphasis on treatment should be a priority. According to Bouchard, criminalization leads to prison which inhibits hiring potential, which leads to further strains on the system.

Bouchard said decriminalization of drugs in Portugal led to a dramatic decrease over 14 years in drug-related deaths and instances of HIV in that country.

On the ongoing war, Bouchard wants to see war powers returned to Congress rather than protracted engagements declared by the president. He said clear parameters should be set as to why we are going to war, who we are fighting and how we will fight.

Bouchard said he’s not in favor of slashing military funding, however, decreasing the amount spent on defending other’s interests or worse, providing weapons to potential or current enemies, should be a priority.

Bouchard said he sees himself as a environmentalist and conversationalist, and that local and state laws and regulations already exist to protect citizens against polluters and others who would cause environmental harm.

“People will find ways around regulations, usually big money. If you’re polluting my water, you’re doing me harm and there’s already laws around that,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard is also a proponent of term limits, saying the job of a representative is to represent the power of the citizens and not their own. He said the power of career politicians needs to be taken away before they become entrenched.

The biggest problem Bouchard said the country faces today is rising debt and federal spending. He said that right now, both Democrats and Republicans are talking about ways to expand the government and collect more from citizens — he referred to it as looking down the barrel of a gun.

“Let’s put freedom back in the right hands — yours,” Bouchard said.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com