SCARBOROUGH — Kelly Noonan Murphy, a Democrat, will face Alan R. Livingston, a Republican in the Nov. 8 election for the House District 125 seat. HD 125 includes part of Scarborough.

Kelly Murphy

Murphy, 47, is married and has three children. She is a special needs preschool teaching assistant/ed tech with the Shooting Stars Program in Scarborough. She has a law degree.

Murphy served on the Scarborough Board of Education from 2011 to 2017.

If elected, Murphy said in an email, housing, education, affordable health care and making it easer to “age in place” would be her top priorities.

“Addressing the housing crisis that Maine is experiencing by allowing for more flexibility for property owners to add additional homes on their own land and encouraging construction/development that will increase affordable housing inventory for purchase and rent” is important, she said.

As is “investing in education Pre-K through college including career and technical training,” Murphy said. “The benefits of education are countless, but as the oldest state in the nation, we need to keep our young people in Maine and ensure they are ready to take on positions being vacated by experienced workers reaching retirement age.”

She said improving access to high quality, affordable health care throughout the state is important “to ensure Mainers can easily obtain preventative medical care and treatment when facing illness.”

In addition, should would like to make it “easier for Mainers to ‘age in place’ by increasing pay for direct support professionals (who make it possible for older residents or those with disabilities the care they need to continue living at home) and stabilizing rent or property tax increases for those who meet guidelines,” Murphy said.

Being a Scarborough native who has served the community in many ways, makes her the best person to represent residents of HD 125 in the Legislature, Murphy said.

“My parents moved to Scarborough before I was born,” she said. “I graduated from Scarborough High School in 1993, left for college and law school, then returned to Scarborough in 2003 with my family. I love Scarborough and have spent most of my adult life in service to this community. My time on the Scarborough Board of Education coupled with working at Project GRACE, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Scarborough High School and The Shooting Stars Program have all given me an incredible opportunity to know our town and understand how interconnected our day-to-day lives are. Recognizing we have neighbors in need led me to volunteer with the Backpack Program and found Scarborough Community Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to using my legal, educational, and nonprofit experience in the legislature while continuing to support Scarborough through my work in Augusta.”

Alan Livingston

Livingston, 72, is married with three adult children and six grandchildren. He is a retired math teacher and sports coach, having taught at Cheverus High School, University of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Community College, Westbrook High School and in South Portland. He also worked in insurance and investment sales. He  teaches part-time as an adjunct instructor at the University of Southern Maine. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono.

His political experience includes three years on the South Portland City Council, from 2010 – 2013; being a member of the South Portland High School Construction Committee; Co-chair of the athletic committee; member of the interiors committee; and one year on the South Portland Board of Education.

Livingston said he was on the Maine Principals’ Association Baseball Committee, Western Maine Board of Approved Basketball Officials Ethics Committee, Maine State American Legion Baseball Committee and commissioner, and State Tournament director.

Livingston said one of his top priorities is, “ensuring our government is affordable, efficient and effective (and there) needs to be a constant check and balance. Hold officials and departments accountable for assigned responsibilities. With the excessive funds that all states have received from the federal government in recent years, we must be innovative to maintain current services without overtaxing our cities, towns and Maine citizens.”

Other priorities include education, caring for those in need and making sure the state is business friendly.

Livingston said he wants to “maintain current state funding to assure quality education for all children and hold education leaders accountable while preparing our students to become responsible citizens with mastered life skills and proper knowledge necessary to join the work environment. Develop strategies to help students complete basic instruction that may have been lost during the pandemic. Help students define their goals toward either a four year college curriculum or vocational training, with appropriate high school credits applied toward necessary college requirements.”

Caring for “our senior citizens, disabled, homeless and veterans by determining the programs that are currently successful and those necessary to meet future needs” is important, he said. “We must support all with affordable housing, energy needs, and affordable health care.”

In addition, Livingston said, also important is reinstating “’Maine Open for Business.’ We must analyze the rules, regulations, and tax consequences that affect free enterprise, determine those that are antiquated, and determine any that offer greater expansion of our small and large business environment.”

Livingston said he should be elected because, “now retired from a lifetime of teaching, I have the time to invest in the responsibilities of this office. With the ability to communicate with citizens from all backgrounds, and with relationships from many generations of Maine citizens, I will listen to their concerns and represent my constituents with common sense when making decisions that affect their lives. This includes balancing the views and thoughts of different constituencies. This also implores me to build trust with other legislators as well my represented citizens. I don’t consider myself a ‘politician’ but rather a concerned citizen. I will complete the necessary research regarding current and future issues, and will debate with meaningful, factual, and thoughtful discourse.”