Sun Journal political reporter Steve Collins sat down with former Rep. Emily Cain, a Democrat who served as the House Minority Leader from 2010 to 2012, and Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn), who currently serves on the Taxation Committee for a virtual panel discussion about Maine’s 2nd Congressional District race on Wednesday, October 30 on Zoom.

The contentious CD2 race between three-term Democrat incumbent Congressman Jared Golden and challenger Austin Theriault, a Republican who is currently serving in the Maine House representing Fort Kent, is being watched across the country as one of a few swing district contests that could decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Emily Cain is an accomplished public policy maker, organizational leader, and political strategist who has been leading at the state and national levels for the past twenty years. First elected at the age of 24, Emily made her mark in Maine politics serving in both the state House and Senate over five terms, leading the Appropriations Committee as Chair and serving as the youngest woman House Minority Leader in state history. From 2017-2023, Emily served as Executive Director of EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, during three historic election cycles helping elect a record number of Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot. Prior to EMILYs List, Emily was the Chief Strategy Officer at HistoryIT, a Maine-based technology company, and was Coordinator of Advancement in the UMaine Honors College for more than a decade. Emily is a founder/partner of Copper Sky, LLC, a boutique firm offering vision, connectivity, and full-service strategic consulting to organizations and individuals working to put good into the world at scale. Emily lives in Orono, ME with her husband, Danny Williams, and their mini labradoodle, Sunny. As a member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, Emily chairs the Strategic Planning Committee of the board. Emily is a singer, cook, enthusiastic peloton rider, and ardent fan of Broadway, the NFL and F1. Emily is a graduate of The University of Maine and Harvard University and is currently earning her Ph.D. in higher education at The University of Maine.

 

State Representative Laurel Libby has served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives, during which she sat on the Judiciary and Taxation Committees, and is now running for a third term. A registered nurse who served for a decade on a federal disaster relief team, Laurel resides in Auburn, Maine with her husband, John, and their children. Laurel is a co-founder of The Dinner Table, and is passionate about empowering Mainers to take action on the issues they care about most. Laurel is deeply committed to creating a future in Maine where families, businesses, and individuals can thrive. An avid runner, she enjoys spending her time off with family at the ocean, playing board games, or reading a good book.

 

A journalist since 1987, Steve Collins has worked for daily newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Maine. He has served as the State House reporter for the Sun Journal since 2016. Among his awards are the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2016 Ethics in Journalism Award and the I.F. Stone Whistle-Blower Award in 2015. Collins is a founder and board president of Youth Journalism International, a charity that teaches students around the globe about news writing, media literacy and issues of the day. His wife, Jackie Majerus-Collins, serves as its executive director. Born in Massachusetts, he grew up in a military family that took him to Norway, Ohio and Virginia, where he earned a degree in history from the University of Virginia.


 

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