BIDDEFORD (NEWS CENTER Maine) – Even on cold, rainy fall afternoons, State Rep. Marty Grohman, unphased, can still be seen on Biddeford’s sidewalks.
Whether it be at city institution, Riley’s Bakery, or the burger joint next to his campaign headquarters, Rep. Grohman’s face is familiar here.
This is the city where he launched his company, Correct Deck, almost 20 years ago.
Today, the company employs 75 people.
Some of them have success stories that Grohman likes to share, like one about a man named Jamie who worked his way up in Grohman’s company after he was hired.
“Since that time Jamie has run a night shift, coming on a Saturday night, he’s gotten married, he’s got a house and he’s about to become the plant manager,” said Grohman. “He’s the type of success story we can have when businesses and government can work together.”
Grohman says his work ethic was formed at a young age.
He was the youngest of eight children and grew up on a dairy farm.
“I grew up on a Jersey cow working farm in western Maine, working the cows before going to the school bus every morning,” said Grohman. I went through Dirigo schools, stuck to my books, went to Gould Academy in Bethel. I was fortunate enough to go to engineering school and get a chemical engineering degree.”
Grohman has also been a state representative for Biddeford for two terms.
He believes he’s ready to put his business and political success and skills to a new test by running for the CD1 seat.
A short time before announcing his decision to run, Grohman left the Democratic party.
He says party allegiance and partisanship are holding America back from achieving its potential on issues like healthcare.
“Clearly it’s time to break the logjam on healthcare,” he said. “There are so many things we agree on instead of focusing where we disagree.”
Grohman says his independence makes him uniquely positioned to make progress.
In addition to healthcare, Grohman also says he’s passionate about finding common ground on immigration reform as well as doing anything he can to help the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a big southern Maine employer.
“I think it’s incredibly important that the representative of Maine’s 1st Congressional District has the backs of our hardworking shipbuilders and submarine repair professionals and I will never vote against them in Congress, he said.
Grohman says the target voters for his campaign are people ready to see Congress take action after years of political log jams.
He also thinks Maine’s new ranked-choice voting system will give him an edge in this election.
His hope is that it will help him start a new chapter in which he’ll use all the skills he’s gained as a hometown business owner and legislator to help more Mainers.