Cape Elizabeth Town Councilor Michael Mowles is planning to run for a seat in the state Legislature this November. On Tuesday, Mowles announced he would run as the Republican nominee for House District 121, which represents part of Cape Elizabeth.

Mowles ran for the same seat in 2004, losing to Democrat Connie Goldman, getting 44 percent of the vote. Due to her husband Bob’s chronic illness, Goldman has said she will not seek re-election.

No Democrat had declared an intention to run for the seat as of press time.

Mowles feels strongly that major reforms are necessary in Augusta. “It’s such a mess up there,” he said, “it needs to be corrected.”

In a press release declaring his intention to run for the Legislature, Mowles said lowering taxes, making healthcare more affordable, and making Maine a more business-friendly state are a few of his goals if elected.

Mowles also criticized legislation passed under the Baldacci administration including Dirigo Health, which he said is too expensive and LD 1, which Mowles said promised property tax relief to voters, but never delivered.

These kinds of policies, said Mowles, have crippled the budget, preventing tax relief. “The state legislature can’t stop spending, they need to give property tax relief to the voters,” he said.

Mowles said building Maine’s businesses is one route to improving the economy and digging the state out the hole it’s in. Advocating for a more business-friendly environment, Mowles said he’d scrap Maine’s business equipment tax, and reduce taxes to promote business growth.

He also said he’d reconfigure the school funding formula. Five years ago, Cape Elizabeth, according to Mowles, was getting 30 percent of its school budget from the state. Today, he said, just 10 percent of Cape’s school budget comes from the state. “Just because our town has a high value,” he said, “doesn’t mean our residents have any more disposable income.”

Mowles, a mortgage broker, said he felt Cape residents “are heavily in debt with mortgages up to their necks.”

A former Millinocket resident, Mowles estimated that Millinocket residents have more disposable income because their mortgages are lower. “When I moved to Cape, my pay increased by 25 percent, but my mortgage quadrupled,” said Mowles.

Millinocket, said Mowles, receives 37 percent of their school budget from the state. Mowles would advocate for a funding formula based on a per-pupil equation.

Mowles added his chemical engineering background provides him with a better understanding of how to keep the state and environment clean.

Mowles has been a Cape Elizabeth town councilor since 2003. “I’m looking forward to helping our citizens in Augusta,” said Mowles.

Mowles has been a resident of Cape for six years. He and his wife Lisa, an ed-tech at Pond Cove Elementary School, have four children, Meghan, Michael, Katie and Brian, all students in the Cape school system.