Previous Offices Held
No government office, have held board of director position in MSEA SEIU Local 1989.
Top Three Priorities
My top priorities are healthcare, childcare, and quality public education because each places major stress on working families. Families need support across generations — from young children to older adults. Many people are working past retirement age because inflation has made retirement unaffordable, struggling to find affordable childcare, relying on grandparents, or paying too much for health insurance despite higher deductibles and copays.
Why are you running?
District 56 includes commuters, farmers, retirees, and small business owners, all facing affordability challenges in housing, health care, and food security. My opponent has repeatedly voted along party lines against legislation that would directly improve life for Maine’s working families. My opponent has consistently voted against legislative measures designed to create livable wages, increase partnerships for affordable housing, and safeguards for employees.
What is one way Maine is on the right track? What is one way the state is on the wrong track?
As residents age, the tax base shrinks and funding for public services becomes harder to sustain. Maine is making progress by working to attract young families. In recent years Maine legislators have increased childcare subsidies, implemented paid family leave, expanded MaineCare, and updated the education funding formula. Maine has strong public-private and nonprofit partnerships that support agriculture and small businesses which also encourage entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship.
As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?
COVID-19 changed the job market and has made it more flexible. With the new flexibility, many who were based in metro-areas moved to Maine. With depleted housing stock, asking prices for homes in Maine skyrocketed. Currently Mainers are struggling with the increased valuation of their homes which translates into higher property taxes. Maine needs more effort from local, county and state governments to not only ensure housing needs are met but current residents can remain in their communities.
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?
Property taxes can equal three or four months of mortgage payments, so more households need access to relief. I would work to double the Homestead Exemption initially, then tie future increases to the Consumer Price Index so the benefit keeps pace with rising costs.