Heather Sanborn

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 43
Age: 40
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Education: J.D., Maine Law, M.S.Ed., University of Southern Maine, B.A., Middlebury College
Family: Married with a 13 year old son.
Hometown: Portland

Political experience

I have not previously run for elected office. I served as the President of the Maine Brewers Guild from 2014 through 2016, where I worked to help modernize Maine’s beer laws.

Why are you running for office?

I believe strongly in giving back to my community. And I know we need smart, engaged problem-solvers in Augusta. I think that my experiences as a public school teacher, a lawyer, and a small business owner have prepared me well to represent my neighbors in the legislature and work hard to make Maine an even better place to live, work, and go to school.

• 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 think that taxation should be progressive so that the wealthy pay a higher proportion of their income than the poor. A sales tax is by its very nature regressive, particularly when it is applied to a broader range of goods and services (e.g. food) that are basic necessities.

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

    It is critical that domestic abusers and other dangerous people who should not have guns are not able to obtain them through the private sale loophole. In this age of technology, executing such background checks can be relatively quick, easy, and inexpensive. It is simply common sense to require it.

• 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 will support the minimum wage referendum, but I am disappointed that the legislature did not take a thoughtful proactive approach to raising the minimum wage. The referendum process means that the legislature has largely missed its opportunity to weigh in on the details of the increase (e.g. the phase out of the tip credit). Had the legislature taken a more proactive approach, the implementation of the minimum wage could have been carefully considered by lawmakers.

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

    I am generally supportive of the legalization of marijuana. I do have concerns about the referendum as written, including the relatively low tax rate and the vagueness of the detail on how the marijuana industry will be regulated.

• 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?
  • I do not believe that the state has done enough in response to the addiction crisis. LePage’s repeated emphasis on the purported racial identities of drug traffickers in Maine shows that he has no idea how to tackle this crisis. The LePage administration has consistently failed to draw down all of the federal funds available to it for treatment of addiction and mental illness and has failed to take a scientific, evidence-based approach in allocating resources for treatment. The LePage administration has also put lives in great danger by failing to encourage the use of live-saving Narcan treatment.