AUGUSTA, Maine — Rep. Lynne Williams of Bar Harbor has stepped down from the Legislature after accepting a state job.
Williams, a Democrat who was serving her second term in the Maine House of Representatives, informed House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, of her move in a letter included in Tuesday’s House calendar.
The Legislature’s website said the resignation took effect April 1. Williams confirmed on Tuesday she took a state job as a worker’s compensation mediator.
Williams represented House District 14, which includes the towns of Bar Harbor, Cranberry Isles, Lamoine and Mount Desert. The seat will remain open through the regular election in November with the legislative session scheduled to end this month.
“I think my district will be fine,” Williams said in an interview. “People have been really supportive.”
But Williams also expressed disappointment over how the atmosphere in Augusta has turned “into not a sort of collective, ‘let’s all work together’ thing.”
Williams has been a practicing attorney, specializing in marijuana business law and civil rights. After receiving her doctorate in social psychology, she worked in southern California as an organizer and also served as a fundraiser and campaign advisor for progressive candidates. Williams also served on the national staff of then-Colorado Sen. Gary Hart’s presidential campaign from 1983 to 1984, per her biography on the Legislature’s website.
She sought the Maine Green Independent Party’s nomination for governor in 2010 but did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
