Jennie Butler, D

Age: 54

Address: 49 Carriage Hill Drive, Windham

Occupation: Retired Windham High School Mathematics Teacher

Political experience: Supportive role to other campaigns

Q: How do you plan to make a difference for your community if elected to the Legislature?

A: If I am elected to the Legislature my first priority is Windham. Our town continues to be one of the communities in Maine that is growing at a fast pace. Windham families deserve a representative who will bring their concerns to Augusta. I will be there to make sure that the issues of our community are addressed. I will work with our state senator and our other state representatives to bring people together and focus on results for our community. Windham deserves its fair share of attention in state funding for infrastructure, schools and social programs.

My second priority is supporting education which is the foundation to Maine’s economic future. During my 27 years teaching at Windham High School, I witnessed how important a good education was to a strong economy and community. I have enjoyed many conversations with my former students on their career successes that began as students in Windham’s schools. We need to make sure that all students receive an education that prepares them to succeed in the future. We need to expand access to pre-K so that every student comes to school ready to learn. K-12 students need to graduate with up-to-date technological skills to be able to transition to jobs or higher education. Higher education needs to be affordable because too many graduates are drowning in debt. Students need more access to job training and technical programs so workers can gain new skills to fulfill the needs of the employers for 21st-century jobs.

Finally, I want to better support Maine’s middle class and small businesses. I believe we need to give Maine workers a raise by raising the minimum wage. This would put millions of dollars into our local economy. We need to provide incentives to locally owned small businesses to help them create jobs in our communities. I’m particularly focused on continued growth of our state’s boat building, brewing, agriculture, aerospace, and forest products industries. We need to help expand their markets by improving and supporting Maine’s infrastructure to get their products shipped more easily to out-of-state markets through improvements in inter-modal shipping or other incentives to reduce shipping costs. We need to provide relief for the middle class and our towns by being fiscally responsible and making sure every dollar is spent for a good reason, not just because we have always done it a certain way. It also means that the state lives up to its financial commitments to the towns, as promised, rather than passing it off to local property taxpayers.

Patrick Corey, R

Age: 40

Address: 353 River Road, Windham

Occupation: Self-employed Creative Director/Marketer

Political experience: Led 2012 effort to defeat sewer in Windham.

Q: How do you plan to make a difference for your community if elected to the Legislature?

A: Maine’s people, and by extension Windham’s, are in a rut. Should we remain in it, the more impassable it will become. Middle class incomes provide for one’s self and family, yet once self-sufficient Mainers are realizing that better times and independence is behind them. Fewer people identify with being “middle class.” Well-paying jobs matter most. Together, we can fix this.

Young people leave Maine because few opportunities exist, moreover we’ve been ranked as the worst state for business and careers by Forbes. Why? Our steep corporate tax burden, slow job growth, high energy costs, few big businesses, and oldest population by median age in the nation.

The solution: Maine government must focus on business by providing infrastructure and capable workers, promotion, and continuing to cut red tape. Further, Maine must look to other rural states that are more efficient, cost effective, and whose government functions are more evenly funded. Unnecessary overspending crowds out funds to improve our economy and takes money out of the pockets of working Mainers – job creators – who invest back in their communities thus enhancing quality of life.

We can start by picking low-hanging fruit – easily achievable opportunities – and better assisting companies that are here today grow and succeed. However, these possibilities are somewhat limiting, and to expand our economy it’s necessary to attract big business.

Business requires a diverse – creative and technical – workforce. To attract high-paying, 21st century jobs the price of higher education for in-state traditional and non-traditional students must be affordable. Maine’s community colleges and universities need to retain students and graduate them.

These aren’t operationally small adjustments for Maine. To achieve results we must be willing to break bad habits, run government more efficiently, put residents before special interests, and work together – Republicans, Democrats, Greens, and unenrolleds – for Maine’s future by enacting bold, corrective measures.

We can only make a difference if we are able to recognize and fix the problems that exist.

Our region boasts earnest, hard-working people who prefer a leg-up over handouts. We have lots going for us…tourism, scenic landscapes, and some replenishable natural resources.

Living in Maine shouldn’t be a trade-off between having a decent quality of life and making a living. This isn’t “the way life should be.” More people with good paying jobs shifts the tax burden from few to many and provides the resources government needs to operate.

My history of standing up for Windham’s residents (e.g., leading the effort against sewering Windham in 2012 saved taxpayers $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value per year) and volunteering with local nonprofits to better our community exhibits a willingness to roll up my sleeves.

Jennie Butler, DPatrick Corey, R