{"id":11610,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/dana-staples\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","slug":"dana-staples","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/dana-staples\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Staples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

I served on the Auburn City Council in an At Large position representing the entire city from 2021-23.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n

Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Cost of living: It\u2019s simple. I think if you work in Maine, you should be able to afford to live here, too. Jobs and workforce stability: We need to keep more students here when they enter the workforce in order to address our aging working population. Working across the aisle: When I talk with voters, everyone is sick of seeing politicians argue with each other. We can achieve better outcomes if political parties work together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n

Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve spent my career in tech helping organizations solve complex problems by\nsatisfying needs of stakeholders who don\u2019t always have the same motivations. The problems we are facing right now are complicated. The solutions aren\u2019t. I\u2019d like to do this job, and I think I\u2019d be good at it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n

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
\n\n\n\n

I fully support Maine\u2019s tuition free community college program because we need to\naddress our current workforce shortage. One way that Maine is on the wrong track is through our ever-increasing partisanship. We used to be able to work together and have conversations. We could arrive at compromises. Now it seems that political parties are more important than neighbors, and that\u2019s not right. I\u2019d like to get back to being able to work\nthrough issues with people without reverting to party politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n

As one of several dozen legislators in your chamber, how would you make a measurable difference for your constituents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

I think the best way to make a measurable difference is to do things to ease rising prices for people in my district. In order to do that, it\u2019s going to take a lot of smart people \u2013 from both parties \u2013 to come up with solutions that work. I\u2019m ready to do this work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n

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
\n\n\n\n

I met someone recently who told me that property tax is the most difficult cost for a\nresident to control. She said she can buy cheaper groceries, drive less, or\neven use less electricity, but the only thing she can do about property taxes\nis move. For that reason, I think we need to find a way to raise the\nhomestead exemption. Home prices have raised dramatically since the\nHomestead Exemption was last raised in 2020. The $25k exemption is no\nlonger enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5095,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Dana","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Neil","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Staples","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11609,"voter_guide_candidate_age":47,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"20-plus year career in computer software and IT","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"I\u2019m a graduate of ELHS. I\u2019ve been volunteering for the City of Auburn for over a decade on various boards and committees, including the Planning Board, City Council, and Comprehensive Plan Committee.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"BS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, MS in Computer Science from University of Southern Maine","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1biS6QEVJxey4ilrnhY_4G0CsU96eNh7N","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11610","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\/11610","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":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11611,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11610\/revisions\/11611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11610"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}