BANGOR, Maine — The four Democratic candidates for governor pledged their support Monday evening for a new arena in Bangor while offering more nuanced views on questions regarding gambling and Maine’s higher education system.
Even as the political posturing and accusations of impropriety intensified among the Republican gubernatorial candidates, the four Democratic hopefuls once again offered largely similar views on major issues during a cordial debate held at Husson University.
All four candidates — Libby Mitchell, Rosa Scarcelli, Steve Rowe and Pat McGowan — appearing at the forum sponsored by the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, said they would support the use of a combination of public and private funds to build a new arena in the city.
“Maine has an extraordinarily responsible history of borrowing,” said Mitchell, a Vassalboro resident and president of the Maine Senate. “We do not borrow more than we can afford.”
While the candidates said they would not sign a “no new taxes” pledge, each said they would continue working to lower Maine’s tax burden. They also urged audience members to oppose the June referendum question to repeal a tax restructuring bill passed by the Legislature last year that lowers the income tax rate for all Mainers while applying the sales tax to more goods and services.
On the issue of gambling, all four candidates said they generally did not support the expansion of gambling in Maine, although most left the door open to the addition of table games at Hollywood Slots in Bangor.
All four candidates said they do not support the resort casino that has been proposed for Oxford County, although that issue will be decided this November by voters, not the governor. McGowan, Mitchell and Scarcelli each indicated that they would at least consider allowing Hollywood Slots to add table games, which also would require legislative approval.
But all four said they do not regard gambling as a powerful economic development tool for the state.
“We don’t need quick hits. We need long-term vision and long-term plans,” said Scarcelli, a resident of Portland who owns a company offering affordable housing in Maine and several other states.
The candidates offered a number of responses to a question on how they would work to make Maine’s system of public higher education more affordable while increasing the number of graduates.
McGowan, a former state lawmaker who until January was commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation, said he would work to increase state spending on public colleges every year, raising the amount of General Fund expenditures devoted to higher education to 9 percent from the current 6.5 percent.
“The University of Maine [System] and our community colleges are our key to a healthy economy in the future,” McGowan said.
Scarcelli said the state needs to improve efficiency within its colleges and universities by eliminating duplicative programs across campuses. Scarcelli also said she would look at eliminating the chancellor’s office within the University of Maine System, arguing that Maine should look to other states as models.
Mitchell, meanwhile, said Maine needs to do a better job marketing its colleges and universities to students beyond Maine, while Rowe called on the state to expand its use of distance learning and to “collapse the walls between community colleges and universities.”
On the issue of K-12 education, Rowe expressed concerns that how much Maine spends on special education is a sign that the state is not devoting enough time and resources to early childhood education.
“We have to do a better job supporting families and supporting early education,” said Rowe, a former attorney general and legislative leader.