Jeffrey Evangelos, a former state legislator who shunned party labels as a passionate defender of many causes, died Wednesday at the age of 73.
“How do you sum up somebody like Jeffrey Evangelos. He was so passionate about criminal justice reform,” said Rep. Valli Geiger, D-Rockland. “It broke his heart that very few of his suggested bills on reform got through the House and Senate. He could be stubborn and outrageous, but had a clear moral framework from which he always acted.”
Criminal justice reform was one of the issues he was most passionate about and had fought for decades for the return of parole. A bill this year has had no more success than prior ones to restore parole in Maine.
He started as a Democrat but bolted from the party and ran as an independent in 2012, saying both parties were too aligned with big money. Evangelos served in the Maine House for eight years, being elected in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020, winning elections in a conservative district.
He did not seek reelection in 2020 while battling stage 4 prostate cancer and leukemia. He remained active, however, with the causes he believed in such as corrections reform.
Evangelos’ public service included serving as town manager of Warren from 1976 to 1980. He was business manager for School Administrative District 40 from 1980 to 1994. He lived in Warren for 21 years and then Friendship for the past 31 years.
During his service in the Legislature, he was honored by numerous organizations including Democracy Maine, the League of Conservation Voters, and the AFL-CIO.
Evangelos said in 2019 that “I support an economy that works for everyone and I continue to be concerned that income inequality is one of the most serious problems facing the nation.”
He also was passionate about what he considered excessive force by police. He noted that the Maine Attorney General’s Office has never found any shootings by police in Maine to have been wrong.
Evangelos was outspoken regarding the case of Gregori Jackson, who was shot and killed by a Waldoboro police officer in 2007 during a traffic stop. Evangelos worked with the family and their lawyer to get the state to reopen that investigation in 2020. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey promised in January 2022 that a report on his department’s review of the shooting would be forthcoming shortly but Frey never followed through on that promise.
Evangelos called for independent reviews of police shootings but that legislation was never approved by the Legislature.
Evangelos said he knew police officers have a difficult job, as his father worked in law enforcement, but said they cannot be allowed unqualified immunity for police shootings. Evangelos said he opposed calls to defund the police, but instead called for more and better training.
His backing by environmental groups was from his support for alternative energy. He said finding alternative energy sources was the best means of combating climate change.
Evangelos was a backer of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his short-lived independent bid for the presidency in 2024. The Friendship man had long believed that the government had not released sufficient information on the assassinations of President John Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy.
The Friendship independent could aim his criticism regardless of political party. In addition to clashing with Democratic leaders, he called for the removal of Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, in 2016, questioning LePage’s mental competency.
Evangelos lived in Friendship with his wife, Harolyn.
No information on a funeral or service has been announced.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.