Incumbent Democrat Anne Carney faces John Lewis, a Republican, in the race for the Maine Senate District 29 seat on Nov. 8. The district includes South Portland, part of Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth.
Anne Carney
Carney, 59, of Cape Elizabeth, is married with three adult children. She graduated from the University of Maine School of Law, J.D., cum laude, in 1990. The incumbent is in her first term in the State Senate. In addition, she represented District 30, Cape Elizabeth, in the Maine House of Representatives from December 2018 to December 2020.
If elected, she said, her top priorities are gun safety, health care, education and safe guarding reproductive rights.
“Make our schools, workplaces and homes safer by passing legislation that reduces gun-related violence, suicide, and accidents in Maine,” is on of her most important goals, Carney said in an email. “As Co-Chair of the Gun Safety Caucus I’ve been working with colleagues and constituents on this priority.”
She would like to “continue to improve Mainers’ access to quality, affordable health care, with a focus on increasing prenatal care to medically underserved patients.”
“Support students, teachers and schools so they have the resources to meet the educational needs of all Mainers,” is something Carney feels strongly about. “I’ll continue to vote for 55% funding of our K-12 schools and universal school lunch.”
In addition, she said, she wants to help “protect Mainers’ reproductive rights and access to abortion care. This has been a major focus of the Judiciary Committee on which I serve as Senate Chair.”
Carney said she should be re-elected because, “the priorities of our community are at the heart of my work: making health care affordable to all, promoting economic security, advocating for public education, advancing civil rights and protecting our environment. I have been very effective at passing legislation that achieves priorities of Senate District 29. Two major bills reducing environmental harm from oil tank farms are now law due to my leadership. My work on child and maternal health has expanded Maine’s CHIP program to as many as 40,000 children and provided comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care to many Maine women.”
“I also understand the responsibilities of serving in the Maine Senate,” Carney said. “Knowledge of the legislative process is key to effectively representing constituents’ interests, and I bring four years of experience to the role. Accountability to constituents is also essential to legislative service. I have clearly communicated to voters my stance on the issues that are important to them, and have a proven track record to back it up. Voters know what to expect if they re-elect me to the Maine Senate.”
John Lewis
Lewis, 44, of Cape Elizabeth, is married with two children. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine.
If elected, he said, his top priorites are the economy, education and workforce development, health care and crime..
“On top of high food and energy costs, Maine is the third highest tax-burdened state in the country,” Lewis said in an email. “This excessive tax burden, along with regulatory mismanagement and inflationary spending, are crushing the average Mainer. This simply doesn’t have to be. Bad policy on top of bad policy isn’t the answer. This reactionary approach fuels our escalating economic challenges, fosters unfair and debilitating dependency, feeds inflation, and makes Maine unaffordable to way too many.”
“Education is the foundation of any good workforce development plan,” he said. “This is where students build their foundation to become productive members of society. This is also where they begin to explore careers. There needs to be greater collaboration between industry and education. An increased focus on vocational and technical training is necessary and all pathways beyond high school should be promoted equally. In addition, we must make the transition easier and more efficient for those moving here, and wishing to continue their careers here in Maine, by streamlining the occupational licensing/credentialing process.”
“Providing people greater access to government insurance doesn’t bring down health care costs,” Lewis said. “Low reimbursement rates cause providers to refuse MaineCare or bill the difference to private insurance or the patient. We need to incentivize competition amongst providers. We also need to address the workforce shortage, which is causing a decline in quality of care, by removing the antiquated COVID-19 vaccine mandate and recognizing licenses from jurisdictions from outside of Maine.”
In addition, he said, “violent crime is on the rise in parts of Maine. We must support law enforcement and the prosecution of violent crimes by making it easier to perform their duties, not harder.”
Lewis said he should be elected because “my diverse background, and professional experience as a collaborator, allows me to bring a fresh perspective to Augusta. Augusta could use some new ideas.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
