{"id":11775,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/traci-gere\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:17:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:17:19","slug":"traci-gere","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/traci-gere\/","title":{"rendered":"Traci Gere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Currently serving third consecutive two-year term representing Maine House District 134.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The top three priorities I hear from my constituents are housing, environmental protection, and an economy that provides jobs and affordability. I focus my work in the Legislature on: 1. housing to meet the needs of seniors, working families and young people, 2. policies that protect the environment while supporting thriving communities and 3. Support for business growth and innovation, so that Maine\u2019s economy continues to expand and create new jobs and opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I am running to continue the progress we\u2019ve made during my time in the Legislature. Housing, economic development and the environment are complex areas, and we are making headway. But there is more work to do, and I have the right skills and experience to keep our momentum going. We must continue to make it easier to create housing that matches people\u2019s needs and means, assist municipalities in adapting to a changing future, and provide more opportunities for homeownership.<\/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 moving in the right direction on housing, permitting 7,499 new housing units in 2025, providing guidance and assistance to municipalities, and supporting local housing organizations. As housing supply increases, upward pressure on home purchase prices and rents will ease. In order to maximize the impact of state and local investments, we must do a better job aligning housing, climate action and economic development plans, and I\u2019m working on a bill to improve these processes.<\/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 take seriously my responsibility to assist with constituents\u2019 concerns. I respond to emails\/calls and follow up with information and help. I meet frequently with local select boards and committees and provide research and guidance. Most recently, I drove amendments to a housing bill to address shoreline concerns, supported Biddeford after the ICE shooting, and stood with fellow legislators to assure that Maine people have access to healthcare and food and to protect women\u2019s right to abortion.<\/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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Prices for gas, food, rent, utilities and healthcare are way up, largely due to Trump administration policies. Housing remains the biggest component of household budgets, so I will continue to work to bring these costs down. I am working on bills that will allocate funding for middle-income housing development, streamline processes for private sector investment in housing and business growth, and establish training and assistance for municipalities seeking to improve operations and management.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13271,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Traci","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Gere","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11774,"voter_guide_candidate_age":61,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"State representative, consultant","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"My long career as a leader in business and nonprofit organizations and as a small- business owner makes me effective in the Legislature, where I bring people together to address the challenges we face.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"B.A., Brown University, MBA, Boston University,","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1ZcRX6Epi5cE28Xy0rgw0lZ1sKyPsakwn","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11775","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\/11775","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\/11775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13272,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11775\/revisions\/13272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11775"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}