In about two weeks, voters in Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland will go to the polls and make some important decisions, selecting school board members, town councilors, legislators, a governor and deciding the fate of a ballot initiative that could have a big effect on government and taxation in this state.

Maine is at a critical point. It has all of strengths it’s always had – a beautiful environment, hard-working people, great local school systems and an overall quality of life that can’t be found in many other states. The people who live here love this state and genuinely care about its future.

However, Maine leaders have some serious challenges ahead of them – leading with the tax burden. It’s no accident that voters have been presented, year after year, with ballot initiatives that would reduce taxes or spending in this state. Maine has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. People pay too much in property taxes, and just about everyone pays the top income tax rate of 8.5 percent.

The cost of health care in this state is high and getting higher here every year. Many employers can barely afford to provide it for their employees, and many of their employees can barely afford to provide it for their families. The cost of health insurance, coupled with the tax burden, makes it difficult for people to run businesses and make a living here.

While it’s important to recognize the state has made some strides toward easing the tax burden by repealing the business equipment tax and increasing the amount of money going to local school districts, it hasn’t gone nearly far enough. And, Dirigo Choice has done very little to reduce the cost of health insurance, or insure the uninsured.

To help voters choose leaders who will be best able to guide the state through these challenges, this issue of The Current is filled with profiles of candidates running for offices, and on this page we will endorse the candidates, this week and next, we believe to be promising leaders.

We’ll start with a contest that will decide who will replace a longtime legislator who served the town of Scarborough well, Republican Harold Clough. In the House District 128 race, our endorsement goes to Republican Sylvia Most. She has been a leader and a voice of reason on the Scarborough Town Council for years now.

While Most isn’t as socially conservative as many members of her party – she’s pro-choice, for example – she is fiscally conservative. She said the economy and taxation are issues that would be most important to her in Augusta. She recognizes that this state’s taxes and the cost of health care are obstacles to getting the economy moving.

In House District 127, our endorsement goes to Democrat Shawn Babine, whose experience on the Scarborough School Board and Scarborough Town Council will serve him well in Augusta. Babine, a vice president in corporate risk management at TD Banknorth, has been one of the more fiscally conservative members of the Scarborough Town Council. Babine cited economic growth as one of the most pressing problems facing the state, and the problems sporting goods retailer Cabela’s has encountered as one of the prime examples of a system that isn’t working.

In House District 123, we were torn between two excellent candidates – incumbent Democrat Jane Eberle and Republican Gary Crosby. Because of his emphasis on the effect the state’s taxes have had on businesses and the economy, our endorsement goes to Crosby, the newcomer. Crosby has been a small business owner for most of his life, and has grown frustrated with the fees many small businesses pay on top of their tax bill. He was recently charged $400 to demolish a building he owned and planned to demolish at his own expense. The fee didn’t pay for any inspection. It was simply part of the cost of doing business in Maine. The perspective of a small business owner is always useful in Augusta, and he deserves a chance to show voters what he can do.

In District 121, our endorsement goes to another would-be rookie, Democrat Cynthia Dill, who has been serving on the Cape Elizabeth Town Council for three years. Dill is interested in lowering the tax rate, but she’s also interested in the role education can play in getting the economy going. She said the business tax should be spent on education to create a well-educated work force – something that’s also attractive to businesses. She admitted she didn’t have all the answers on Dirigo Choice, but said she didn’t think it seemed to be working.

In Senate District 7, although Kevin Glynn has long been a champion of lowering taxes, our endorsement goes to incumbent Democrat Lynn Bromley, who has become a leader in the Democratic Party, and one not afraid to occasionally go against the party line, as she did when she sponsored a bill that would have given developers protection from public referendums that stop projects late in the approval process. Bromley has been a champion of investing in research and development – something that can bring high-paying jobs and investment from outside the state.

In Senate District 6, our decision was easy, because Republican Jane Willett said she didn’t have time to be interviewed by our deadline. Luckily, voters have a great candidate who has plenty of time for them, incumbent Democrat Phil Bartlett. A graduate of Harvard Law, Bartlett is an educated, articulate voice who has been representing his community well in Augusta.

Next week, readers will find our endorsements for local town council and school board races and referendum questions. As always, whether you agree with our choices or not, we encourage you to get out and vote.

Brendan Moran, editor