AUGUSTA — The Maine House Democrats convened on Friday, Nov. 16 to nominate and elect its leaders for the 129th Legislature and State Rep. Ryan M. Fecteau, a Biddeford native and third-term representative, was elected Assistant Majority Leader.

Fecteau ran against Rep. Benjamin Collings of Portland, a second-term legislator for the position, which was previously held by Rep. Jared Golden of Lewiston. Golden won a ranked-choice voting instant run-off election against incumbent Congressman Bruce Poliquin last week.

With the vote, Fecteau becomes only the second legislator from Biddeford elected to leadership in the Maine House of Representative in the state’s 198-year history. The previous time was in 1939.

Former Biddeford senators Dennis Dutremble (1987-1992) and Peter Farley (1957-1958) also served in State Senate leadership.

Fecteau joins Rep. Matthew Moonen of Portland who was elected as Majority Leader and Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport who was was elected to a second term in the same role.

“I am humbled, excited, and grateful to my colleagues for entrusting me with this responsibility,” said Fecteau. “As I shared in my speech before my fellow legislators, all I could think about on election day and now is the opportunity we have to do good for the citizens of Maine.”

In his speech, Fecteau also shared his frustration with the “purposefully entangled web sewed by the previous administration” that made it difficult to connect constituents with state resources. Fecteau emphasized the fact that 16 percent of households in Maine experienced food insecurity in 2017, the third highest rate in the country.

“You better believe I am thrilled to stand shoulder to shoulder with each of you to give our neighbors a fighting chance once again,” said Fecteau in his speech. “We will not stomp their pride in mud. We will do good.”

Between Governor-elect Janet Mills, Senate Democratic leadership, and House Democratic Leadership, the seven leaders hail from six different Maine counties, three of them are women, and two of them are LGBTQ.

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