Mark Alan Bedell

Republican

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 15
Age: 50
Occupation: Film/TV/Theatre
Education: Fork Union Military Academy
Family: Not provided
Hometown: Saco

Political experience

Well… not strictly political, but I have held elected office:
1991-1995: I was the Chairman of the Children’s Theatre Division on the Board of Directors of the New England Theatre Conference. I was elected to two terms and I declined to run for a third term.
2008 to 2009: I was appointed to the Maine Board of Directors of the Educational Theatre Association. I was honored to serve on that board but I was hardly ever in Maine at that time. I stepped down to make way for a more local Board member.
2010 to present: I was appointed to the Board of Advisers for the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame. Another position for which I am honored to serve.
2016: I was a delegate at the Maine Caucus.

Why are you running for office?

I was born and raised in Saco but from 2002 to 2015 I lived in a lot of different places. In May 2015 I moved back home. This election is going to be historic no matter who wins. I wanted to find a way to get involved as a delegate for the caucus (which I was). I went to a Maine Republican meeting. I spoke some, but for the most part just listened and had a desire to learn. The next week I got a call asking me to run for District 15 HR. This was not something I’d ever considered. You know the old adage, everyone complains about the political climate but no one ever does anything about it. Well, here is a chance for me to put my money where my mouth is.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • Yes

    I want to make Maine business friendly, it certainly seems to have worked for NH. We can attract more and better jobs to Maine. This will help to decrease the welfare roles. Put Mainers back to work and Maine can be “The Way Life Should Be” again.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • No

    If the bill for question 3 ONLY stopped internet sales and private Gun Show sales I’d be for it. But as always, the devil is in the details. That bill requires so much more than the “Yes on 3” commercials want you to know about. It restricts loaning a firearm to a friend or even certain family members. It is a poorly written overly reaching bill that would do little to effect how criminals get their guns. Michael Bloomberg is funding “Yes on 3”. That right there is enough to make me wary. I’ll be voting NO on 3.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • No

    As I mentioned earlier, I want to help make Maine business friendly. This would drive even more businesses out of Maine. Here’s the thing, let’s say $7.25 buys a bottle of water, a sandwich and a small bag of chips. Raise the minimum wage and in short order, $15.00 will buy a bottle of water a sandwich and a small bag of chips… no one will have gained anything. Like all of these issues I have much more to say, but I’m limited here.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • No

    I did support this until I looked into it deeper. Again, the devil is in the details. Some of this bill’s most ardent opponents are the families of people currently legally using medical marijuana (cannabis). This will hurt medical marijuana, make it harder for small growers to grow marijuana and greatly help the big pharmaceutical companies who are more than ready to jump in to this booming new market. Also, Colorado and Washington state are reporting an up-swing in marijuana related traffic accidents. You can’t accurately check impairment by checking THC levels in the blood. It just does not work that way. Someone who has never smoked pot could be impaired quickly would have a very low THC level; while someone on medical marijuana for a year would not be impaired at all and have a very high THC level. I’ll be voting NO on 1.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • We have to stop, or at least cripple, the flow of heroin on a national level. We have to help those who are already addicted. We need to attract more business to the state so these people are SO gainfully employed that selling drugs or being in a gang is simply not a good option. This one is too important to fight over. No matter where you lean politically, we all want the same thing here… to stop the problem.

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