WINDHAM — An incumbent Republican is running for re-election to the District 25 seat covering part of Windham, while his Democratic challenger is making her second run for the seat.

Republican Patrick Corey, a self-employed creative director, was first elected to the seat in 2014. Corey said he would like to continue work on his bill to allow Medicaid funds to be used to pay family members or legal guardians to provide home care to their relatives, which passed both chambers but didn’t get funded.

Democrat Jennie Butler, a longtime former math teacher at Windham High School, lost to Corey in the 2014 election. She wants to be a “voice for educators, for students,” and said her priorities also include helping seniors be able to age in place.

Corey said he’s against Question 1 on the statewide November ballot, which asks voters if they want to create a new Universal Home Care Program for seniors and people with disabilities through a 3.8 percent tax on individuals and families making more than $128,400.

“I’m concerned that it’s a tax on small businesses, that it will give us one of the highest top marginal tax rates in the country,” Corey said.

Butler said she hasn’t decided how she’ll vote on the home care question, but acknowledges “concerns about how the numbers are working out.”

“I think the purpose is great. I don’t know if this is the right mechanism to be able to do that,” she said.

Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion by referendum last November, but Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has refused to implement it. The governor has vetoed expansion funding with the backing of many House Republicans, but Corey voted to overturn the governor’s most recent veto.

“We’ve defeated it as Republicans several times, but the voters approved it, and it’s now the law,” Corey said. “I believe it needs to be funded in a responsible way.”

Butler “absolutely” supports Medicaid expansion, calling it “in part, the will of the voters.”

Both Butler and Corey are publicly financed candidates under the Maine Clean Elections Act. Butler has raised $10,180 and Corey has raised $11,500, according to the Maine ethics commission.

Matt Junker can be contacted at 781-3661, ext. 123, or at:

mjunker@keepmecurrent.com

Twitter: MattJunker

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