Previous Offices Held
Lewiston School Committee: Appointed in February 2017 Elected in 2017 and served until 2020 City Council Representative in 2021 Elected in 2025 and currently serving Lewiston City Council: Elected in 2019 and served until 2021
Top Three Priorities
My biggest priority is making Maine more affordable for working-class families and retirees. Whether it’s grocery bills, childcare expenses, healthcare costs, or affordable housing, we’re all feeling the pain from inflation and costs that keep rising. My next priority is to address much-needed property tax reform. Lewiston residents are being squeezed, and I’m focused on fighting for us. I’ll also work on the necessary legislative changes that we know will reduce violent crime in our city.
Why are you running?
I’m running because Lewiston residents deserve better than what we’re getting from our state government. Our tax system puts too much of a burden on local property taxpayers, our schools are dangerously underfunded by the state, and wealthy communities push their problems onto Lewiston and then restrict our ability to handle the issues that arise. This isn’t acceptable and we deserve better. I’m running to fight for my community.
What is one way Maine is on the right track? What is one way the state is on the wrong track?
Maine is on the right track in the sense that Mainers are just as hardworking as we always have been. Unfortunately, Maine is on the wrong track in many ways. Seniors on fixed incomes deal with rising expenses that don’t seem to stop rising. Young people are unable to save money in order to build a future for themselves. Families are pinching pennies just to afford basic needs like groceries and childcare. This is unsustainable and Mainers deserve better than the way things are right now.
As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?
Many of the issues that affect Lewiston also affect most of rural Maine, and I see plenty of opportunities for coalition-building that can address issues like property tax reform, improving our schools, and making Maine more affordable. I’m dedicated to taking power from coastal elites (of both parties) and giving it to regular, working-class people in Lewiston. I believe in common sense and won’t hesitate to challenge my party’s leaders if they aren’t acting in Lewiston’s best interests.
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?
One specific proposal of mine is to reform property taxes by moving to a statewide property tax system to fund things like public education, homelessness and revenue sharing for communities dealing with violent crime. If Maine moved to a statewide property tax, Lewiston residents would end up paying less overall than we do now. Currently, Lewiston pays high taxes so that wealthier communities get to pay less than what’s fair. Lewiston residents are demanding change, and I will fight for them.