{"id":11678,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/tavis-hasenfus\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:41","slug":"tavis-hasenfus","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/tavis-hasenfus\/","title":{"rendered":"Tavis Hasenfus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2020 (won 2020, 2022, 2024); serving constituents in Winthrop and Readfield continuously since 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Education: As a parent of three public school students and a product of Maine\u2019s public schools, I am committed to delivering a first-class education to every child, regardless of income or ZIP code. Environment: Protecting our lakes, rivers, and natural resources to preserve Maine\u2019s extraordinary beauty for generations to come. Jobs and Housing: Fostering sustainable economic growth so every hardworking Mainer has access to quality employment and a home they can afford.<\/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 critical work for our communities: helping seniors age safely in their homes, updating our tax code to fund essential infrastructure and services without overburdening residents or businesses, expanding universal pre-K and childcare infrastructure, and safeguarding the constitutional rights of all Mainers.<\/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 led the nation by providing free school meals to all students and offering tuition-free community college. Continued investment in education ensures a bright future for our next generation. Conversely, rural Maine is falling behind in healthcare and economic opportunity. We must ensure housing, healthcare, and opportunity are accessible statewide, not just in urban centers.<\/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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I\u2019ve built a reputation for pragmatic, bipartisan leadership; earning the trust of my colleagues. This earned me a position as a House chair. It has also allowed me to pass legislation relieving the financial burden on Winthrop from its new recovery residence and create a small business tax credit that earned me a Maine State Chamber of Commerce Business Champion award. I will keep cutting through gridlock to deliver real results.<\/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 will reintroduce my bill aimed at reducing costs for working families by expanding tax credits for businesses that contribute to childcare costs, thereby helping businesses retain employees and helping young families maintain employment. Additionally, I plan to expand the Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) framework and Historic Property Rehabilitation credits to lower tax burdens on local small businesses, encourage downtown revitalization, and stimulate job growth across rural communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5120,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Tavis","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Rock","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Hasenfus","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11677,"voter_guide_candidate_age":38,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Attorney","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"House chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Coach and volunteer for Winthrop Athletics","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Winthrop High School (2006); B.A., University of Maine (2010); J.D., University of Maine School of Law (2013).","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1AUFbNzxezM3Wq9jpO1fpMCockzT6OWSA","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11678","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\/11678","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\/11678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11679,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11678\/revisions\/11679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11678"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}