{"id":11953,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/josh-gerritsen\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:43","slug":"josh-gerritsen","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/josh-gerritsen\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Gerritsen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Ran and won race for Lincolnville Select Board in 2017; Ran and won race for Lincolnville Select Board in 2020; Served on the Lincolnville Select Board from 2017-2023 (six years); Served on Waldo County Budget Committee for six years as Chair; Served on Mid-coast Solid Waste Transfer Station Board for two years; Served on Lincolnville Broadband Committee for three years as Chair; Served on Rockport Harbor Strategic Task Force, Vice-chair<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My top three priorities are the cost of housing, healthcare and electricity. We are in a housing crisis right now and must build more housing at a mass scale, tax second homes for out-of-state residents at a higher rate, and heavily regulate short term rentals.\n\nOur for-profit health insurance system is failing Mainers left and right. I will fight for a public insurance option in the short term, and for a universal health care system in Maine in the long term.<\/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 because I want to help the community that I grew up in be affordable again. I want to level the playing field for everyday Mainers and that means ensuring the people that work in Camden and Rockport have a place to live, that they have guaranteed access to healthcare without fear of medical bills bankrupting them, and they have affordable electricity that doesn\u2019t skyrocket in price year over year.<\/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 on the right track when it comes to implementing the Maine Won\u2019t Wait four-year climate plan. Installing EV chargers across the state, heat pumps in more Maine homes and businesses, weatherizing over 10,000 homes, and more are crucial to our state being more resilient and affordable in the face of climate change.\n\nThe biggest way we\u2019re on the wrong track is not building enough homes and incentivizing future homes being sold to long-term residents, not short-term.<\/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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We need big ideas, not small tweaks to a broken system. I am running as a progressive on bold plans, without fear of upsetting the status quo. Taxing the wealthy their fair share, taxing second homes of out-of-state residents at a higher rate, heavily regulating short term rentals, fighting for a public option in the short term and universal healthcare in the long term. Being a leader on these big ideas is the only way to make them happen.<\/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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As I\u2019ve said above, it\u2019s about leveling the playing field for Mainers and ensuring the wealthy are paying their fair share. We must transform housing, healthcare and electricity in our state to ensure the cost and availability of all three stays affordable and available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5105,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Josh","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Gerritsen","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11952,"voter_guide_candidate_age":42,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Filmmaker","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"I grew up in the community that I am running to represent and I\u2019m proud to have attended my public school from 1st grade through high school.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Skidmore College, Major in Environmental Studies, Minor in Government","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1ovg9gCv5u-7mLWpdAv5fV8yugOCmHCfe","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11953","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\/11953","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\/11953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11954,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11953\/revisions\/11954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11953"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}