Last week, I met many of our local candidates running for positions in the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Over the last five business days I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a handful of them one-on-one over Zoom, with another seven or eight interviews lined up for later this week.

Side note: We’ll be releasing these videos by Halloween on our Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber Facebook page and YouTube Channel. I encourage you to watch the videos to get to know them better.

They are a diverse group of candidates who will bring different experiences with them to Augusta should they get elected. To be quite frank, the conversations I have had with all of them thus far do not reek with the stench of the negative ads I see run by political action committees for our federal offices or even the gubernatorial race.

That’s the impetus for this week’s column, in that, by meeting, researching and getting to know these candidates, I have been able to make several observations about them, which I think may be helpful for all of you. Our regional chamber does not endorse candidates for seats at the local, state or federal level, but we do have issues we feel strongly about as a chamber of commerce. Again, I’m not endorsing candidates, but I will absolutely endorse ideas that have merit.

Here are a few things I’ve learned from meeting these candidates:

‘All politics are local’

Though former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill is often credited with it, this phrase goes back to as early as 1932 in some form or fashion. Regardless of its author, the term is as salient today as ever and is personified with our local candidates. Every single candidate thus far who I have spoken with has said the local issues we are dealing with go beyond party politics, and “There are real issues we need to solve for Mainers, so I’ll work with anyone.”

Sure, that may seem like a candidate telling me what I want to hear, but contrast that with what we hear at the federal level in those mudslinging contests. In those races, each side is telling you why the other party is lacking or dangerous or evil. You can’t make it through most commercial breaks without hearing a negative ad against a party or a candidate and how that they will ruin the state or country.

We’re seeing none of that at the local level, and I have to say, it’s very refreshing. Though none have said this explicitly, it feels to me like their party affiliation is a starting point for a conversation rather than the unshakeable belief that other federal contests seemed to be consumed with. In these interviews, it’s fascinating to discuss with them what issues they’re hearing about as they knock on doors of potential voters and what solutions they see are needed. For that reason, we’ve held back presenting the candidates by their party affiliation. Once the videos are released, hear the person out before caring which side of the aisle they sit on, because most only care about finding solutions to our local problems.

Workforce, housing, child care top issues thus far

Though I haven’t done all of the interviews yet, thus far, each candidate says they are hearing about workforce issues, housing affordability and child care as the top issues. Many candidates mention other issues, too (like education, substance abuse, senior care and more), but those top three are mentioned by all.

That’s incredibly important because our chamber believes these are the prime issues, too (as witnessed by our workforce program). These three topics aren’t going to be solved by one bill or overnight but rather by a series of bills, changes and negotiations that will need to take place over a number of years to create the policies we need. We don’t even know all of the answers yet, so we need people who are flexible enough to change or create new policy when we find what works and what doesn’t and be willing to invest in the best ideas. That doesn’t happen if people across the aisle don’t recognize the issues as important in the first place, so workforce, housing and child care being so prevalent in these conversations up front is a big step in the right direction.

Scare tactics being avoided

The last thing that’s so notable about our local state House candidates is that, for the most part, they stay away from the scare tactic issues that sometimes take over federal or gubernatorial political races. Though some issues have been mentioned in passing, primarily, the candidates have noticed that those national talking points aren’t resonating with the people whose door they knock on and meet with. Most people are much more worried about their own lives and the issues that are affecting them, like health care, wages, prescription drug costs, heating oil, etc.

There are a number of hot-topic issues that federal races get consumed with that don’t affect most Mainers. You only need to worry about IRS agents if you’re cheating on your taxes — if you’re not cheating or you have a simple return that wouldn’t be questioned, why would you worry about more agents? Defunding the police only happens if the majority of a community votes that way on the town budget, and that hasn’t happened in any of our communities, nor does it seem remotely likely. These political action committees use scare tactics to engage a reaction, but when you think about some of these, do they really even affect you?

That’s my final point, too. Don’t rely on the ads on television right now. Do your own research. One way we can help with that is by watching the videos we release in the coming days. Secondly, our Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber Facebook page has a recent post that contains links to the candidates’ web pages and Facebook pages. Hear from them in their own words, and then decide.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce.