{"id":11751,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/kayla-meredith-thompson-miller\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","slug":"kayla-meredith-thompson-miller","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/kayla-meredith-thompson-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayla Meredith Thompson Miller"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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None<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Rural resilience including affordable living, housing repair and building, education in the trades and strengthening public schools for the future, and supporting farms and the local food economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I want to do anything I can to make life better for my neighbors. Times are hard and many are suffering, if I can do anything to work toward a better future where everyone has what they need to thrive, then I'm going to do that. Running for office felt like a way forward to helping the most people and doing some good in a difficult time.<\/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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I was born and raised in Maine and one of the best things about this state is how we drop everything (including any differences) to help one another in a crisis. Storms, fires, illnesses — neighbors helping neighbors to survive and recover, that's the best of Maine, and I hope we can view our current difficult times as this kind of moment, lay down differences, and help each other through.<\/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 would aim to join the Education Committee and use my background to advocate for our public and trade schools so we can build a promising future for Maine. Keeping rural schools and hospitals open and accessible is a huge concern for my constituents, and I would fight hard to make that happen. Watching access to healthcare and education slip away from those of us in rural areas is terrible and unacceptable to me.<\/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 fully agree with the new tax on higher incomes, and I think we could do more of that. My district has a close to 20% childhood poverty rate and I would do anything in my power to lower that number. Universal childcare and healthcare would go a very long way towards easing burdens for folks as well. Raising a family in Maine shouldn't put you in financial difficulties. If we want a future generation growing up here, we need to support working families in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Kayla","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Meredith Thompson","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Miller","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"Rev.","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11750,"voter_guide_candidate_age":39,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Director of religious education and office administrator, Unitarian Universalist Church","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Mother of three, married, former librarian, recently ordained in interfaith ministry, artist, community organizer, proud union family.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Salem State University for art education, philosophy minor, and ordained by Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1vs3cAYagwlCUd_MQllPRLbjvMgnEb33R","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11751","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","hentry","vg_party-democratic"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11751","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\/11751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11752,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11751\/revisions\/11752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11751"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}