Previous Offices Held
2022 (Senate District 13), 2024 (Senate District 13)
Top Three Priorities
All people should have access to the healthcare they need and Mainers should never have to choose between life-saving care and paying the bills. Climate change is a quality of life and economic issue; we must act on climate science to protect our heritage industries and the future of our communities. The economy improves when regular people have buying power, so we need solutions that help everyone access better jobs that pay living wages and affordable housing, childcare and utilities.
Why are you running?
I always knew I wanted to leave the world better than I found it. That’s what drew me to school counseling as a career, and later to serve in the Maine Senate. This district means so much to me; it’s where I grew up and where I have chosen to raise my own family. I’ve spent my career building strong communities and a good, sustainable future for our children and grandchildren, and look forward to continuing to put this experience to work for us in Augusta.
What is one way Maine is on the right track? What is one way the state is on the wrong track?
Many Maine policymakers put our people first, making sure there’s as much stability as possible and attempting to fill in the gaps created by federal budget cuts. However, I’m seeing increasing polarization in the Legislature and more people choosing to play partisan games, promote wedge issues, and perpetuate national talking points instead of coming together to work on the issues that actually impact Mainers’ day-to-day lives. That doesn’t serve our state or communities in the way we deserve.
As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?
I’ve proven I can work across the aisle to move bipartisan legislation forward. Policymaking is a team sport and I’ve shown my skills in finding stakeholders and working together to create solutions. I prioritize issues that are important to my district based on things I hear from constituents, but many of these solutions help the whole state, like making healthcare more affordable, lowering prescription prices, supporting working families and protecting heritage industries.
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?
Many of the economic stressors we’re feeling are directly impacted by federal policies, but there are things we can do at the state level to make life more affordable. Work I’m looking forward to engaging in includes lowering the cost of prescription drugs, finding solutions to health insurance that aren’t so federally dependent, lowering property taxes for year-round residents by increasing taxes on second and third homes and supporting working families with affordable housing and childcare.