Return Brownie Carson to the Maine Senate

Sen. Brownie Carson of Maine District 24 represents Harpswell, Brunswick, Pownal, Freeport & North Yarmouth. He has had a wealth of experience that make him a powerful representative for all Mainers.

Carson led a Marine Corps platoon in Vietnam, practiced law after his education at Bowdoin and University of Maine Law School, and directed the Natural Resources Council of Maine for 27 years. He is a champion of the environment, jobs, the economy, healthcare, a comprehensive approach to the opioid epidemic, education, gun safety, and small business. A couple of months ago, I went to hear him speak and was so touched by his concern for a small bakery in Brunswick — Union Street Bakery — which was going through some hard times due to a construction project that closed off all or part of Brunswick’s Union Street for an extraordinarily long time recently. He urged us to patronize the bakery to help it survive the resulting drop in business. In the larger Maine picture, he is committed to improving Maine’s infrastructure and generating clean, renewable energy.

I have had occasion to contact Carson about issues important to me and found him very responsive. One such issue was my concern about a bill put forward by the Secretary of State that would make citizen initiatives more difficult. He too was concerned about the bill and voted against it, citing that he “doesn’t want to see restrictions that harm our access to the democratic process.”

We don’t have to worry that Carson — a Clean Election candidate — is being influenced by powerful “dark money” interests. Carson’s strong leadership and desire for civility in politics has resulted in his pushing for bipartisan solutions to the issues that Maine faces. That’s what we need in Augusta — less division and more collaboration.

Please join me in re-electing this extraordinarily well-qualified Maine Senator back to Augusta.

Denise Schwartz,

Harpswell

Collins’ credibility on the line with court nominee

Having sent letters and phone messages to Sen. Susan Collins’ office without any apparent effect, I am appealing to the media to make clear that many informed citizens of Maine, Democrats and Republicans alike, are appalled at Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. We have watched the executive branch of our government become more dictatorial and thuggish almost daily, but this nomination adds a whole new dimension to the assault on democracy.

Whatever Sen. Collins’ allegiances are, she must be aware that a vote for Kavanaugh is capitulation to the cynical maneuverings of organizations financed by the Koch brothers, people unconcerned with quality of life on this planet and responsive only to the demands of ‘big money.’ If Trump has his way, the devastating effect on our justice system could not be reversed for decades.

Unless she opposes the elevation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, I believe Sen. Collins will lose whatever credibility she retains among responsible voters as a legislator concerned about people among the 99 percent and the health of the planet we all depend on, rich or poor.

Brooke Pacy,

Waldoboro