Ralph L. Tucker

Democrat

Office Sought: Representative – District 50
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired judge
Education: Law Degree, U.Me.
Family: Married Nancy Eaton Tucker, 45 years. Three grown children, Ben, Abe and Ruth
Hometown: Brunswick

Political experience

Brunswick School Board and Town Council. Chair of Workers’ Compensation Commission. Labor Attorney 19 years. Retired after career as Maine District Court Judge.

Why are you running for office?

To help protect and improve public education, Maine’s health care system, environmental protections, and economy. To block the destructive, divisive, mean-spirited, right-wing policies of the current Maine executive.

• 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

    Those who benefit the most from our laws should pay a fair share from the fruits of those beneficial laws.

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

    Justice Scalia, the author of the Heller US Supreme Court case, wrote that along with each individual’s right to firearms goes societies’ unarguable right to exclude possession of firearms by dangerous persons, and to reasonable regulation of commerce in firearms.

• 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

    Increasing the minimum wage will help the economy by putting more wages into circulation, helping both wage-earners and the economy, and reducing the need for taxpayer public welfare supports.

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

    Undecided

• 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?
  • In addition to enforcement of drug laws, the state should organize better referral, needle exchange, counseling and treatment programs in cooperation with law enforcement and health care professionals. Expansion of the state’s Medicaid program to young people would be a real help. The state should avoid racial politicization and fear mongering.