Sen. Dawn Hill, D-York, is running against Republican challenger and former police chief Theodor Short to keep her seat in the Maine Senate representing southern York County.

District 35 includes Eliot, Kittery, Ogunquit, South Berwick, York and part of Berwick.

Hill is assistant minority leader in the Senate, where she has served two terms after leaving the Maine House, where she also served two terms. She is the Senate chairwoman of the powerful appropriations committee, which writes the state budgets and often decides what receives state funding and what does not.

Hill also owns It’s a Dog’s World, a dog training and activity center in York.

She says on her website that she wants to work to create jobs and support small businesses, bring transparency and accountability to state government, improve access to high quality education and protect natural resources.

Short is a 40-year veteran of law enforcement, including two decades as a lieutenant in the Maine State Police. He retired this year as police chief of Eliot and Kittery after becoming the first police chief in Maine to serve two towns at the same time.

Short says on his website that he helped provide access to addiction treatment as a police chief and, if elected, would focus on fighting the heroin epidemic and providing more treatment opportunities for addiction and mental health. He also says he wants to hold down taxes, help businesses grow, ensure quality education and take care of veterans.

Hill is running as a publicly financed candidate under the Maine Clean Elections Act and raised $22,000 through Oct. 25, according to her latest finance report. Short is privately financed and had raised $8,800 as of Oct. 25, his report says.

Correction: This story was updated at 9:49 a.m. on Thursday, November 3, 2016 to correct Dawn Hill’s leadership position in the Maine Senate.

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