Republican James Booth and Democrat Henry Ingwersen are competing for the Maine House District 10 seat representing Arundel, Dayton and part of Lyman.

The seat is being vacated by Republican Rep. Wayne Parry, who will be termed out of office.

Booth, 54, lives in Arundel and is a small-business owner. He served two years on the Saco City Council, has volunteered on several political campaigns and was chairman of the York County Republicans from 2014 to 2017.

Booth said the main cause of gun violence is that the current laws are not enforced. “We do not need more laws to restrict lawful gun ownership in Maine. We need people that break current gun laws to do hard jail time,” he said.

He said people should be allowed to purchase health insurance across state lines, similar to car insurance, as a way to lower costs. He also said health care billing practices should be reviewed to try to root out fraud and mismanagement.

Booth said the Legislature should look into adopting a more friendly tax policy to be more attractive to young workers and businesses.

Ingwersen, 67, also from Arundel, is a retired teacher and is a beekeeper. He served on the executive committee of the Democrats of the Kennebunks and Arundel.

He said he supports the Second Amendment but would support legislation to authorize judges in Maine to temporarily suspend access to firearms by a person in emotional crisis. He said he would oppose any renewed legislative efforts to arm teachers or allow guns in school parking lots.

Ingwersen said he believes Maine should expand Medicaid eligibility as approved by Maine voters.

To help create a better future for employment in Maine, he said, the state needs to develop an easy-to-navigate program to help new Maine businesses access financing and train workers; offer a no-interest loan program for small businesses and help them finance the addition of new employees; promote clean, renewable energy technologies; and promote affordable statewide access to broadband and cellular technologies.

Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 780-9015 or at:

egotthelf@journaltribune.com

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