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David Jones is a candidate for governor of Maine.
A trip to the grocery store should never be a family budget buster. Sadly, these days it feels like one. Putting food on the table and paying the bills has become harder and harder for Maine families. I think it’s a lack of leadership in the Blaine House that is driving the affordability crisis.
For four years under President Donald Trump, America had a strong economy with low inflation and affordable energy. Gas averaged around $2.50 a gallon, grocery prices rose just 1% to 2% a year pre-COVID, and blue collar wages were rising. Then Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, and Janet Mills essentially backed their agenda every step of the way.
Under the mismanagement of Biden and Mills, we’ve seen record inflation averaging nearly 5%, with grocery prices up over 20% cumulatively, and gas spiking above $3.50 on average. Biden’s massive spending helped fuel the surge in prices, while his pause on new energy leases contributed to higher fuel costs.
Janet Mills followed his lead, supporting Biden’s climate orders and pushing Maine toward 100% renewables by 2050. She put big incentives on solar and heat pumps that put green special interests ahead of practical affordability for families.
Many Maine families feel angry and left behind because they have been — by a Biden-Harris administration that I believe put America last and a Mills administration that echoed costly policies from Washington, D.C.
Too many Maine families feel like they don’t matter to their government. It doesn’t have to be this way.
I’m here to tell you that you matter. If you are struggling right now to provide for your family, you matter, your struggle matters. You will get through this and you will be stronger for it.
I know this because I’ve been there before. I started hanging drywall at 17 and, as the years went by, I fought for every inch I could to get through those hard times and succeed. Every day, families fight to keep the lights on and put food on their table in spite of their government.
At the peak of my construction business, I was signing the front of paychecks for over 1,100 employees. Many of them had families and I was always aware of that fact. I needed to succeed to take care of my guys so they could take care of the people who depended on them. That’s how our leaders should approach governing, think first of the people who are depending on you to succeed so that they can succeed as well.
I know real leadership when I see it. I believe Donald Trump gave us prosperity, security, pride, and energy independence for the first time in decades. Now he’s back in the White House, and Maine needs a governor who will work hand-in-hand with him to finish the job. We can build on the success President Trump delivered for our country and bring those same winning policies home to Maine.
Congress won’t fix Biden’s and Mills’ mess for us — we have to do it ourselves. I believe that starts with a governor who will fight Biden’s inflation, dismantle Mills’ tax-and-spend agenda, and implement the Trump playbook that actually works: American energy dominance, slashing job-killing regulations, tax cuts for working families and putting Maine citizens ahead of foreign aid and open borders.
Maine needs an Office of Government Efficiency to root out the waste, fraud and abuse of Maine’s tax dollars. The less Maine wastes, the less Maine needs to tax.
We need a governor with the guts to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump. I’m running for governor to be President Trump’s partner in Maine. I want to fight for Maine people as hard as they fight for their families. Maine cannot afford to continue to willfully ignore the Trump agenda. I believe our leaders must embrace President Trump’s agenda of opportunity to bring prosperity to Maine.