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Maine’s June 12 Republican and Democratic primaries both have crowded fields of candidates, who hold very similar positions on many of the issues within their parties.
To help primary voters sort out the candidates, NEWS CENTER Maine has produced extended, "podcast" interviews with each of the seven Democrats and four Republicans. These are mostly unedited, roughly 30 minute-long discussions between the candidates and NEWS CENTER Maine's Don Carrigan, who has covered many campaigns and elections in more than 40 years of reporting.
The interviews explore a bit about the candidates' backgrounds, why they are running and where they stand on a number of major issues. We asked all the candidates to talk about opioid drugs, education, taxes, aspects of health care, keeping young people in Maine, dealing with the worker shortage and how they would try to lead and bring the state and the political sides together. There are also some more individual questions, too.
The interviews were recorded May 7-15.
Editor’s note: there are also several independent candidates running for governor of Maine. They were not interviewed because they are not on the primary ballot. As far as the gubernatorial race is concerned, the June 12 vote is just for the parties. There is also a statewide referendum question on the ballot June 12, about ranked-choice voting. All Maine voters can vote on that question, whether they are in a party or not.
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
We talk with the four Republican primary candidates:
Rep. Ken Fredette of Newport. He is a lawyer, an officer in the Maine Air National Guard and the current Republican leader in the Maine House of Representatives.
Sen. Garrett Mason of Lisbon. He works for the family-owned contracting and excavation business and formerly worked in sports marketing for the Portland Sea Dogs and the Lewiston Maineiacs hockey team. He is currently majority leader of the Maine Senate.
Mary Mayhew of South China. She is the former commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. She was also vice president of the Maine Hospital Association and is currently a consultant working with states on welfare reform policy.
Shawn Moody of Gorham. He is the founder and owner of Moody’s Collision Centers, a chain of auto body repair shops. He also has several other businesses. He is also a member of the boards of trustees for both the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
We talk with the seven Democratic primary candidates:
Adam Cote of Sanford. He is a lawyer, a former member of the Sanford school board and other local organizations and served for a number of years as an officer with the Maine Army National Guard.
Donna Dion of Biddeford. She served six years as mayor of Biddeford and spent many years working in finance for several nonprofit organizations.
Sen. Mark Dion of Portland. He is a lawyer, a former police officer and served as sheriff of Cumberland County. Dion has previously served in the Maine House and is currently serving in the Senate.
Mark Eves of North Berwick. He is a family counselor who currently manages a mental health agency. He served eight years in the Maine House of Representatives, including two terms as speaker of the House.
Janet Mills of Farmington. She is the attorney general of Maine, a position she has held for the past five and a half years. She is a former prosecutor and district attorney and operated her own law practice. She served three terms in the Maine House of Representatives.
Diane Russell of Portland. Russell has worked as a cashier and for nonprofit organizations but is best known as a legislator and political activist. She served four terms in the Maine House. She helped lead several successful citizen referendum campaigns, and was a leader of Bernie Sanders supporters at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Betsy Sweet of Hallowell. She is a mental health counselor and owns a business that lobbies the Maine Legislature on issues for the disabled, mentally ill, the elderly and for women. She is a longtime Democratic activist and organizer, and is the former director of the Maine Women’s Lobby.
