Geoff Gratwick

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Senator – District 9
Age: 73
Occupation: Physician – retired
Education: Harvard, Cambridge (England), Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Cornell University post doctoral
Family: Married to Lucy Quimby, children: Myles and Elizabeth
Hometown: Bangor

Political experience

Bangor City Council 2002-11; Maine State Senate 2012-2016

Why are you running for office?

My concerns are: Affordable, quality health care for all; jobs and better jobs – Mainers want to work; education funding, from pre-K to vocational to higher ed; welfare reform; elder care – aging at home; curbing the drug epidemic; returning civility to Augusta

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • Other

    I am in favor of progressive income taxes; at the same time our tax base should be expanded

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • Yes

    This is a common sense compromise; when I worked in Emergency Rooms I all too frequently saw the effects of guns by those who should never had them in the first place.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • Yes

    This has been successful in other states and is a very modest step.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Other

    Not now. We need to see how the Colorado experiment works out and be sure we do not repeat their mistakes.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • We need to have more options for treatment and rehab; addiction is a chronic disease and needs to be treated as such. We need more funding for law enforcement.