STANDISH — Republican incumbent Lester Ordway faces For the People candidate Tim Goodwin in the Maine House of Representatives race for District 23, a rematch of the 2018 race for the seat.

District 23 includes most of Standish.

In 2019, Ordway received about 55% of the vote to defeat Goodwin, who then ran as a Democrat.

Goodwin is publicly funded under the Maine Clean Election Act while Ordway is traditionally funded through individual contributions and political action committees.

Goodwin

If elected, Goodwin said he will work to “reduce or end corporate big money control in government” and improve state infrastructure, including high-speed broadband access.

“(These improvements) will help spur the economy. Broadband especially will help with working remotely, which is something that will be a reality of life in the pandemic and post-pandemic world,” Goodwin said in an interview last week.

He also wants to “reduce or eliminate the foreign interest” in utility providers, citing a bill by Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, to establish a consumer-owned electric utility as one example of how that can be done.

“I’d also work towards equality not only in matters of race and LGBTQ issues, but also in matters of class,” Goodwin added.

Ordway

Ordway, currently in his third term as state representative, said that if reelected his highest priorities are lowering taxes and increasing funding for career and technical education.

“I have a huge issue with them being very underfunded,” said Ordway, who is on the advisory committee for several vocational schools in the area and is an instructor at Central Maine Community College.

He wants to find ways to bring in more businesses to Standish, he said, especially after many shuttered their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“(I will) try to leverage some of the CARES Act money into the municipalities that are all hurting because of lost revenues,” Ordway said last week.

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