Republican Don Marean is seeking his second term in House District 131, where he wants to continue advocating for Maine’s agriculture.

A farmer for 20 years, who currently serves as the ranking minority member on the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, Marean says he has worked hard by crossing party lines to keep Maine’s agriculture strong and trying to curb what he calls excessive development in southern Maine that is gobbling up farms.

If re-elected, Marean, who lives in Hollis and owns and operates Lindon Farms in Buxton, also wants to continue his push for legislation that would protect Maine farms from eminent domain and further promote agricultural education in Maine schools.

“I am running again because of my commitment to agriculture and conservation,” said Marean, 67. “Those things are very near and dear to my heart.”

He also is pushing for the repeal of the beverage tax that the Legislature passed this summer, raising taxes on beer, wine and soda to help fund Maine’s Dirigo Health program.

Marean said he doesn’t believe the tax is fair and it is funding a program that benefits only a few Mainers. He also said he believes the beverage tax will be repealed and that Dirigo will continue to be funded through a tax on hospitals and health-care providers.

“Dirigo was originally designed to serve hundreds of thousands, and the idea was great,” Marean said. “It’s not doing that, and so what’s happening is we are providing coverage for only a few with a very, very expensive premium.”

Marean also said he is troubled with the language of the casino referendum question to allow Oxford County to have a casino, because it would give a 10-year monopoly to the casino owner if passed and wouldn’t allow another community to have a casino during that time. Although he doesn’t gamble, Marean would be in favor of putting a casino in an appropriate spot in Maine closer to New Hampshire with proximity to Interstate 95.

“The way this referendum is written I would never support that,” he said. “If we have a casino in Maine with the right access and right location, I don’t have a problem with that.”

He also said he wouldn’t mind Scarborough Downs eventually having slot machines because it’s a natural fit for a racino because it already has horse racing.

Marean is also in favor of consolidating school districts in Maine, but those issues need to be decided at the local level.

“We’re top-heavy with administration,” he said. “Enrollments are declining by a lot, but yet our costs are escalating.”

If re-elected, Marean said he would continue to push to relieve Mainers’ tax burden by broadening the sales tax to everything except medical costs and lowering the income tax.