Nathan Paul LeClair

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 63
Age: 22
Occupation: Independent contractor
Education: CMCC, Auburn, ME, 2012-2014
Family: Partner
Hometown: Auburn

Political experience

This will be my first time officially running for a state position. However, before this, I have canvassed, phone banked, and organized for both local and national candidates. Politics have been my main interest for as long as I can remember, and I feel a long-burning passion to improve my State and the lives of our people.

Why are you running for office?

There are a number of challenges facing people in the state of Maine that need to be addressed if we are going to build an economy that benefits the many, not the few. Wages have stagnated for middle class families and many people who previously found themselves living comfortably in the middle class are now finding themselves falling behind, making minimum wage or barely above that. We have a Governor who has voiced strong opposition to Question 4 which will raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 despite the fact that Maine’s minimum wage has not risen since 2009 – the longest our state has gone without an increase since it was enacted in 1959. I strongly support Question 4 and believe that through ensuring jobs with livable wages we will more effectively foster an economy where everyone can live comfortably and not have to worry about putting food on the table. Our Governor has staked out a position that is hostile to renewable energy, but the time is now to secure a healthy planet for our children. The LePage administration was responsible for driving away an offshore wind project, a decision that I believe was the wrong one. Maine had an opportunity to pass a comprehensive modern solar bill earlier this year, but the bill was vetoed and effectively killed by six lawmakers in the State House who left the chamber to avoid voting on the bill. I seek to be a champion of renewable energy, and passing a modern solar bill that will save ratepayers money will be a top priority of mine.

• 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?
  • No

    I do not support the Governor’s position. Millionaires pay the same tax rate as someone making $40,000 per year. I am strongly in favor of Question 2 and support a Progressive tax system in which the wealthiest Mainers pay a higher effective tax rate than middle class families.

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

    Criminals who often suffer from severe mental illness take advantage of being able to easily and anonymously buy guns from unlicensed sellers who do not require a background check. In states that already require background checks on all handgun sales, 48 percent fewer law enforcement officers are killed with handguns, 46 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners, and there has been 48 percent fewer gun suicides. 98.5% of people live within 10 miles of a place where they could conduct a background check. I think this is a sensible policy that will not hinder maintaining the tradition of hunting in our state or protecting our Second Amendment rights.

• 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

    I believe that a minimum wage increase will improve the condition of our economy on the whole, lifting thousands of Mainers out of poverty. A minimum wage increase is overdue and over 600 small businesses have signed on in support of this minimum wage increase. I am happy to stand with them in support of this measure and I believe that in order to create a strong economy that continues to grow we must invest in decent paying jobs for all.

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

    The fact that marijuana is on the Schedule I is one of the most shamefully ridiculous things that our government has decided. A Schedule I drug, according to the DEA, is “a drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” It does have accepted medical benefits, but many people don’t believe it, regardless of the many Americans who use it for medicinal purposes, even prescribed by a doctor. Not only is it wrong that it is on the Schedule I, I believe it shouldn’t be illegal for adults over 21 at all. As far as anyone today can see, marijuana is not dangerous to be consumed in moderation, and it is not physically addictive. If anyone became mentally addicted to it, it obviously cannot be any worse than the incredible physical, mental, and social dangers of being addicted to alcohol, and alcohol is an accepted and legal drug for adults to consume. Therefore, I stand in a position of being for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

• 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?
  • No. Although Governor LePage likes to talk about it a lot, I don’t believe he is properly dealing with the drug problem in Maine. His opposition to the NarCan bill was completely nonsensical and unacceptable. We need to focus our drug policy in Maine on restorative practices, such as rehabilitation and treatment for chronic addicted drug users. We need to invest in these programs instead of throwing every drug user in jail where they will continue to exhibit drug use and be recidivists, which pointlessly uses the tax payer’s money. Let’s help these people, and actually cure the drug problem from the bottom up. It make sense to punish by law people who deal drugs. But it doesn’t make sense to take someone who is clearly in the depth of a debilitating physical addiction to a substance, and to put them behind bars, to invest in them as a number in a cell instead of a person with an illness.