PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — The primary election is just a week away, meaning the 11 candidates for Maine governor — four Republicans and seven Democrats — are all busy hunting a final few votes.
These are primaries, so the issues for those candidates are all aimed at their own parties. And that means there may not be a lot of difference between those candidates.
In interviews with NEWS CENTER Maine, the Republican candidates all expressed similar views on the big issues. They oppose Medicaid expansion, support the Second Amendment and want less government. Most of all, the four all say they hope to carry on the work of current Gov. Paul Lepage.
No issue shows that more clearly than taxes. Cutting income taxes has been one of the signature achievements of the LePage administration. Not surprisingly, all the GOP primary candidates agree tax cuts help boost the economy.
"Every quarter," said Sen. Garrett Mason, "we have seen more money coming to the government with people paying lower rates. Why? Because it grows the economy. This is the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats believe everybody should get a smaller piece of the pie. Republicans believe we bake another one."
Rep. Ken Fredette agrees the goal should be to eliminate the income tax altogether.
"Because what we are doing is competing against New Hampshire, a sister state beside us with no income tax [and] no sales tax," Rep. Fredette said. "Massachusetts, which we used to call 'Taxachusetts,' their top income tax rate is 5.1 percent – 2 percent less than Maine."
Mary Mayhew said Maine can afford to eliminate the income tax, calling it "good economics."
"There is still considerable waste in state government," Mayhew said. "There has to be strategic vision and leadership from the governor to drive accountability. There is too much money being spent because it feels good not to because it's producing important outcomes."
The one dissenting view came from candidate Shawn Moody. He, too, would like to eliminate the income tax, but says going from the current level to zero is election year talk.
"But to go from that to zero, it’s a campaign, tell people what they want to hear to get them fired up. 'Oh, I’ll vote for that person,'" Moody said. "The reality is I’d like to get to 5 percent that’s a realistic goal, go from 7.1 percent to 5 percent. But there’s a more important issue: property taxes."
Lower taxes and smaller government are key issues in a Republican primary. Not surprisingly, many of the Democratic primary candidates say they would repeal some or all of the LePage-era tax cuts in order to pay for needed programs.
But all four GOP candidates claim that, despite the obvious political differences, they would be able to work with both parties in the next legislature to get additional tax cuts passed.