We come from parts of the state that are very different. Our backgrounds are dissimilar, and while we share the same core values, we don’t agree on everything.
But the four of us who threw our hats in the ring to run for the Maine Senate on behalf of the working men and women in our communities do have one very important thing in common: Our hunger for economic growth that provides opportunity for all Maine people.
That’s why we are running for the state Senate.
Like most of the folks we know — and, we suspect, like you — we want to talk about solutions for working folks all over our state, from Portland to Fort Kent, Calais to Coburn Gore. We’ve seen their lots shrink and shrink while economists and politicians say the recession ended years ago, and we know our state can do better.
We may not be the most polished bunch to run for office, but our commitment to our fellow Mainers cannot and will not be diminished by political attacks. We knew that when we stood up for working people, we’d be in for a fight. But we were still sad to see a prominent Republican lawmaker take to this newspaper to question that commitment. We remember a time when attacks on your opponents’ integrity were off-limits in Maine politics. We expect those kinds of attacks from slick politicians in Washington, but we cannot let them become the normal in Maine.
No one cares about politicians’ personal fights with each other, or about who’s “winning” or “losing” the day’s political tug-of-war.
So our opponents in Augusta can attack us everyday, but they can’t hide from the truth: The Republican majority in the Senate introduced, and advocated for, a budget that would have raised taxes on Mainers making less than $60,000 a year while providing tax breaks for the wealthiest Mainers.
That kind of math may fly among the lobbyists and ideologues in Augusta and Washington, D.C., who say the solution to everything is to help out the big at the expense of the small, but it’s unacceptable to people back home.
The vast majority of Maine people are struggling to get by because of the broken ideology of tax breaks for the rich and crumbs for everyone else. Our economy is stacked against working-class Mainers like us, trying to make an honest living in our traditional Maine industries.
The four of us who announced we were running for the state Senate are a logger, a Maine guide, a lobsterman and a carpenter. We know that Mainers who work hard and play by the rules in this country should be paid enough to support their family.
Mainers are known for our work ethic, integrity and commitment to quality. This may be a difficult time, but we have strengths. We need to build on those strengths to revitalize our economies and communities. We need to put plans ahead of politics and implement solutions to help recover our staggering economy. We have big problems to face.
Instead, for years we’ve seen the powers that be in Augusta bickering and playing politics.
Solutions, when they came at all, were happy accidents on the way to winning the political fight of the day.
We need elected officials who make Mainers their top priority, not pawns to be used to score political points. We need to reform government and our economy so they work for all of us.
Let’s reinvigorate and reinvent our manufacturing industry. Let’s repair our bridges and roads and create jobs instead of creating tax breaks for billionaires and loopholes for big corporations. Our leaders should focus on rewarding hard work and leveling the playing field, not perpetuating a system that’s been rigged for far too long.
The promise of America is supposed to be for everyone, not just the folks who are already at the top.
We all deserve a fair shot at success. We all deserve elected officials who know and understand our dreams and struggles. We all deserve to put aside politics for economic prosperity.
Like you, we have had enough of politicians putting partisanship ahead of people. That’s why we, buoyed by the support of our friends and neighbors, are running for the Senate.
Jonathan Fulford, a carpenter from Monroe, is running for the state Senate in Waldo County. Rock Alley, a lobsterman from Jonesport, is running for state Senate in Washington County. They are joined in this message by Troy Jackson, a logger from Allagash who is running for the state Senate in Aroostook County; and Jeff McCabe, a Maine guide from Skowhegan who is running for the state Senate in Somerset County.