{"id":11814,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/susan-g-longchamps\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:34:57","slug":"susan-g-longchamps","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/susan-g-longchamps\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan G. Longchamps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Elected to the Lewiston City Council (Ward 2) for a three-year term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2022 Safer and Healthier Neighborhoods: Investing in public safety and treating substance use as the public health crisis that it is.\n\n\u2022 Smart Economic Growth: Expanding our local business tax base to lower the heavy property tax burden on everyday working residents.\n\n\u2022 Housing Options for Everyone: Creating accessible housing so no one is priced out of their communities, prioritizing affordable senior housing so our older residents can live comfortably in the communities they helped build.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I believe in Lewiston. As a lifelong resident, a successful business owner, and the mother of a Lewiston police officer, I have the lived experience to lead us in the right direction. My focus is simple: a safer, healthier community and smart economic growth that lowers the tax burden on homeowners. Lewiston has given so much to my family. It is time for me to give back, work hard, and make the tough decisions needed to build a stronger future for Lewiston.<\/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 has prioritized education to build local workforce, the Child Care Affordability Program to support working parents and increased the Property Tax Fairness Credit to deliver financial relief to low- and middle-income seniors and families.\nWe have a crushing tax burden and an unaccountable juvenile justice system. Current state laws don't hold youth repeat offenders accountable. We need to aggressively grow commercial business to lower property taxes for struggling seniors and families.<\/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 will deliver measurable results for Lewiston through aggressive, compassionate action. I will fight assertively in Augusta to fully fund our first responders and tackle root causes of crime. To permanently slash the heavy property tax burden on homeowners, we must expand our commercial tax base by attracting business investment. Finally, I will protect our seniors and families by expanding affordable housing, so no one is priced out of the city they built.<\/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 sponsor legislation to expand the Property Tax Fairness Credit providing immediate relief to working families and seniors. I will launch a Small Business Expansion Fund to grow our local commercial tax base. Finally, I will fight for state-backed matching grants to build affordable senior housing. Together, these steps safely shift the tax burden away from homeowners to secure Lewiston\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12851,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Susan","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"G.","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Longchamps","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11648,"voter_guide_candidate_age":48,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Business owner","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"City councilor and successful business and property owner; guardian ad Litem, advocating for the safety and best interests of minors within DHHS; youth advocate at Long Creek Youth Development Center.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1A2Rho8Hupa3wE_96Em0887IFV7ODZZ8U","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[564],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11814","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-republican"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11814","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\/11814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11815,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11814\/revisions\/11815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11814"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}