{"id":11564,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/grayson-benjamin-lookner\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:33:07","slug":"grayson-benjamin-lookner","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/grayson-benjamin-lookner\/","title":{"rendered":"Grayson Benjamin Lookner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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House District 37, won; served 2020\u20132022; House District 113, won; served 2022\u2013present; Portland City Council At-Large seat 2024, lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1) Build permanently affordable housing shielded from speculation and commodification. 2) Lower costs for everyday people through public health care, transportation and clean energy. 3) Defend Mainers from federal overreach and abuses, including immigration enforcement, threats to data privacy and civil liberties and federal actions that undermine Maine\u2019s climate and energy goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019m running to finish the work I began in previous legislative sessions and to keep delivering for my constituents. We are living through a historic period for our state, country and planet. We must think big instead of small. We need to build new systems that will materially improve the lives of working Mainers, that will protect our freedoms and communities, and meet the myriad crises we face in housing, affordability and climate with the urgency they demand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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What is one way Maine is on the right track? What is one way the state is on the wrong track?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Maine is on the right track when we enact policies like paid family and medical leave that materially improve working people\u2019s lives. But too often, the Legislature acts only when faced with the threat of a citizen referendum. We are on the wrong track when elected officials stick their fingers up in the air to figure out which way the political winds are blowing before acting with courage and conviction. We shouldn't need to wait for voters to force action instead of stepping up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In 2025, I organized legislators to hold the line and initially vote no on a budget that balanced the state\u2019s finances on the backs of the state's most vulnerable residents while failing to fairly tax the wealthiest. That fight created leverage. The following year, we won a new millionaires' tax despite the governor\u2019s long-standing opposition. One legislator can make a difference by organizing colleagues and withholding a vote when it counts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Surveys show the economy is the top concern of voters. What is a specific proposal addressing Maine voters\u2019 economic anxieties that you\u2019d work to make law?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I would help municipalities finance and build permanently affordable, universally accessible housing for all Mainers. We should treat housing primarily as a community good and a human right, not just a market commodity. Public and community ownership can protect homes from speculation, keep rents stable over time, and ensure that people of different incomes, ages and abilities can afford to live in the communities they call home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12798,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Grayson","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Benjamin","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Lookner","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"Lookner","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11563,"voter_guide_candidate_age":42,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Community Organizer, Sea Kayaking Guide, Stagehand, Small Business Owner","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Community organizer, former EMT & behavioral health professional, worked with youth experiencing homelessness. Current wilderness and sea-kayaking guide, and recently became a small-business owner.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Sociology, Prescott College; MHRT\/C Certificate, University of Southern Maine; graduate-level counseling coursework at USM.","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1dhGkKupd1CO0JmxWlRwxCGfaMmhhgc_-","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11564","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-democratic"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12799,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11564\/revisions\/12799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11564"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}