Previous Offices Held
House District 42, 2018 (withdrew due to health issues), City Council At-Large 2020 (won), and 2023 (won)
Top Three Priorities
1. Affordability: Housing, Childcare, Health Insurance and Food. Ensuring that the wealthiest individuals and corporations contribute more. 2. Racial Equity & Social Justice: Protecting reproductive rights, defending our LBGTQ+ community, protecting our Immigrant neighbors, getting ICE out of our communities, Wabanaki sovereignty, pursuing equity for our BIPOC community. 3. Climate & Sustainability: Protect our resources, reverse the damages we’ve already experienced with climate change.
Why are you running?
I am proud to call Portland home. We have an incredibly diverse, talented, beautiful and challenging community. We are also collectively living through incredibly difficult political and economic realities. When we work on behalf of the many instead of the few we will see everyone thrive instead of the wealthiest and most privileged. And we are not just working on behalf of this generation, but also using the wisdom of those generations that came before us for those who will come after us.
What is one way Maine is on the right track? What is one way the state is on the wrong track?
We have passed legislation to begin to attempt to close the wealth gap. It’s not enough. We have to look at root causes to make Maine affordable again. If we want to reduce people becoming and living unhoused, not only do we need affordable housing, but also the wrap-around services to create job stability, ongoing mental health/recovery/substance use services and real place in community to build connections to prevent the conditions that created the initial loss of stability.
As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?
What I found to be most effective on council was listening and building relationships. I was one vote of nine, so without my colleagues, I’m not able to do anything. Portland is the largest city in the state, the most diverse with so many opportunities and also many challenges. Working with others around the state to find similarities and how policy can benefit both large cities, small towns and rural spaces will create the most measurable difference for Portlanders and all Mainers.
Surveys show the economy is the top concern of voters. What is a specific proposal addressing Maine voters’ economic anxieties that you’d work to make law?
We need to allow cities and towns the option to benefit from tourism that would boost their revenue. Local option sales tax would allow cities with a significant amount of tourism activity to implement a fee that will come directly back to their city, helping to reduce the overall burden and hopefully also pay for programs that city or town needs.