AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, will once again hold the gavel after Democratic members picked him Wednesday for the speakership.
House members considered several candidates Wednesday who had shared earlier this year their plans to seek the top role in the lower chamber, including Fecteau; Assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier of Lewiston; Rep. Jim Dill of Old Town; and Rep. Ed Crockett of Portland. Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, was also initially among the contenders but withdrew her name before Wednesday.
Fecteau will succeed House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, who was termed out and won last week’s election for an open Maine Senate seat. The caucus also selected Rep. Matt Moonen, D-Portland, to succeed House Majority Leader Mo Terry, D-Gorham, as the chamber’s no. 2, while Rep. Lori Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, will take Cloutier’s role.
Fecteau said after last week’s election saw Republicans win back the White House and Congress, it is “our responsibility, here in Maine, to safeguard fundamental rights, protect vulnerable rights and be a lighthouse of hope.”
“I look forward to leading the House of Representatives once again as we set out to do this work,” Fecteau said in a text message.
Democrats, who have controlled the Legislature and governor’s office since 2018, held both chambers after last week’s election but saw Republicans chip away at their majorities. Democrats will now have a 20-15 advantage in the Senate, and they won 77 seats in the 151-member House pending a few recounts.
That could make for even tighter votes for the next speaker to manage on high-profile or controversial bills. House leadership races are often kept private in the run-up to the closed-door vote, but Fecteau brought things out into the open this summer after posting on social media about his desire to once again lead the House.
Fecteau, who ran unopposed in last week’s election for the seat that Rep. Erin Sheehan, D-Biddeford, chose to not seek again, was first elected to the House in 2014 and, at age 28 in 2020, became Maine’s youngest House speaker in nearly 180 years.
He is the first speaker to regain the job in more than 50 years, after David Kennedy, a Republican from Milbridge, had pulled off that feat.
The three other legislative caucuses already held leadership votes last week, with Republicans selecting House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, and Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, to continue in their roles. Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, is termed out, so Democrats picked Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, to succeed him.
The Legislature will formally vote on electing each leader in December.
