2008 General Election Portland Guide

David Fernald - R

Endorsed Vote: No

David Fernald is currently retired with a background in the high-tech industry. His politics are hard to pin down. He is big on the environment--would support cap-and-trade, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and sustainable fishery certification--but he also supports more domestic oil drilling in the short term. He agrees with paid sick days for full time workers, employees’ right to ask for flex-hours and family medical leave, but opposes universal health care (both national and state-run) with the belief that, with a little help, the private industry can provide care and save taxpayers money. David is very concerned with government waste and would like to see $200 million cut from the budget by nixing programs-- like Dirigo for starters. When it comes to standing for League values on the issues, we know David would not make us proud in Augusta.

Stephen Lovejoy - D

Endorsed Vote: No

Stephen Lovejoy's run for office is driven by his desire to make Maine a viable home for his children and grandchildren and their peers. He is an economics and business professor at the University of Maine in Augusta and sits on the Downtown Portland Board of Directors. He is supportive on some of the League's issues and provided thoughtful answers to our questions. However, he has reservations about providing paid sick days, family medical leave, and flex hours to small companies. In addition, his positions are too uncertain in areas like a cap-and-trade program for energy, a minor’s right to contraceptive counseling, and LD 2019—a bill that increases alternative transit with passenger rail. In the end, The League needs a candidate that will stand firmly, without a doubt, behind our issues.

Donna Bendiksen - R

Endorsed Vote: No

We reached Donna several times, yet we have not received her questionnaire, nor did she come to the candidate forum. We don’t have enough information about her positions and issues to consider her candidacy.

Kenneth Capron - R

Endorsed Vote: No

You may know Ken from his web name “Watch Dog” on his conservative website on the state legislature. He is against raising or adding new taxes and advocates complete elimination of income and sales tax. His top three priorities are to create an effective, cheap government with oversight and accountability, to reduce health care costs, and to eliminate income and sales taxes. His belief that we can balance the budget strictly through cutting government spending makes us fearful of the effects of a “cheap” government. While we appreciate his passion for being civically involved, his staunch opposition to most League issues including paid sick days, giving minors rights to contraceptive counseling, or universal single-payer health care makes us less than enthused.

Phil Haskell - R

Endorsed Vote: No

Phil’s political ideology is not drawn from any elected office, but rather from his career as a mechanical engineer in manufacturing and as a former plant director. He wants to cut spending by eliminating unnecessary state positions from the top down and by looking for more ways to save. He stresses that there is a need for the citizenry to assume a considerable amount of responsibility. Phil opposes single-payer universal health care, stating that management is best left to the experts, meaning the HMO’s. He sees parental roles as crucial to the success of public education, proposes that Maine schools bring curriculums back to “serious academics,” and wants to cut school staffing dramatically. While his mantra of cutting down wastefulness is a strong one, he has not demonstrated the necessary knowledge or vision to actually fulfill these goals.

Josh Miller - G

Endorsed Vote: No

After discovering this political newcomer was registered for the ballot, we called and sent numerous emails but could not reach Miller. We have not seen him around in the community and wonder if he is a serious candidate for his race.

Ryan Hendrickson - R

Endorsed Vote: No

After discovering that this political newcomer was registered for the ballot, we called and sent numerous emails but could not reach Ryan. We have not seen him around in the community and wonder if he is a serious candidate for his race.

Dan Jenkins - G

Endorsed Vote: No

Dan is a young and articulate candidate whose top priorities fit in line with League values: universal health care, affordable housing, and energy independence. He’s been active as Chair of the Portland Green Independent Party and as a volunteer with groups like The League and Opportunity Maine. His work as a student at Muskie School for Public Policy and his employment with Woodford’s Family Services provide him with incredible insight and ideas on many legislative issues, such as the HOME fund, raising revenue, and sustainable fisheries. While he supports RGGI and flex hours, he wants to analyze their impact on smaller business and the Maine economy. A Deering High graduate, he knows firsthand about the Portland schools and wants to hold the state accountable for fulfilling its promise to fund 55% of Maine’s school budgets. While universal health care is a top priority, he is disappointed with the Dirigo program as even an intermediate step toward universal coverage. While Dan has big ideas for progressive change, his inexperience and unwillingness to compromise on issues like Dirigo make us doubt how well he would work with others to take the steps necessary to reach his larger goals.

Bill Linnell - G

Endorsed Vote: No

Bill Linnell is a commercial fisherman and boat captain with a passion for the environment. He was a leader in the successful effort to shut down the ME Yankee nuclear plant, has been involved in local neighborhood groups, and was a member of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council. He has advocated for and studied alternative energy solutions for 20 years. He has proposed the "Liberty Energy Plan," which includes many of his ideas, including creating green-collar jobs like carpentry and contracting, to insulate homes and make them more energy efficient. He is incredibly knowledgeable about alternative energy and wants to implement green solutions to many of the state's current problems. Although we love his passion for energy conservation, his knowledge on other issues leaves much to be desired. His positions on flex hours, sick days, and medical leave are disappointing. We're not sure Maine's budget issues can be solved with such a one-sided approach.

Eric Lusk - R

Endorsed Vote: No

Eric refused to fill out our questionnaire to be considered for endorsement.

Anna Trevorrow

Endorsed Vote: No

Anna is a young, liberal-minded woman who seeks to empower all of Portland’s school-goers – be they low-income, non-native, disabled, or adult. She demands equal access for every student and has radical plans to integrate schools by partnering the school committee with organizations such as NAACP, ASERRELLA, and Portland West. Anna believes her background in banking and self-guided education provides her with the necessary tools to balance fiscal responsibility with a progressive curriculum that lets kids begin to guide themselves through their education. This idea is central to her ideology: that students who are empowered through individualized and experiential learning are more likely to graduate and become vital citizens. While The League likes her approach to education and learning, Anna’s background working with traditional schools and Portland schools is limited and could prove to be an obstacle to creating real change in the schools.

John Coyne

Endorsed Vote: No

John Coyne is currently the District 5 School Committee Representative and Chair of the School Committee. His top priorities include tax relief, improving safety, and attracting business to our city. Coyne is opposed to the Peninsula Transit Study and seems to use confusing approaches to solving problems, such easing traffic congestion by increasing parking spaces. His answers on important issues like affordable housing in our questionnaire were brief or missing. Coyne failed to stir any excitement in our hearts.

Tina Smith

Endorsed Vote: No

Tina is a seemingly tireless community activist who is passionate about our city. Her focus is nourishing Portland’s less-celebrated attributes – a community of artists, an infrastructure that could support more than automobile traffic, and the minorities that struggle to have their voices heard in City Hall. She insists that she would be bringing some needed diversity to the Council and understands the issues that the League holds dear: incentives for landlords who have energy-efficient units, the Buy Local campaign, implementing alternative transportation elements of the Transit Study, and exploring car-sharing. She proposes that ALL Portlanders receive the right to vote and run for office even if they are non-citizens. It is assured that Tina will fight hard for her agenda, but her lack of experience with strategic planning, policy, and budgets would not make her an effective advocate on the Council.

Dory Waxman

Endorsed Vote: No

Dory Waxman brings a wide range of local experience as an organizer, small business owner, and a mother to her bid for City Council. She co-founded a local group, Portland Community Action, and previously served on the School Committee in the 90’s. While our city faces big problems--unemployment, budget cuts, the uncertain future of the pier--Dory thinks she has what it takes to bring people to the table in search for a common ground. Through her work as Bayside Neighborhood Organization’s community organizer and in her own public relations firm, she has worked to do just that. Her priorities are to encourage responsible economic development, promote educational opportunities, and to ensure Portland’s a livable city for all. She would work to improve access to transportation and to retain municipal jobs like fire fighters and police officers. Dory is a passionate, experienced candidate that would provide a unique perspective to create policy beneficial to all.

Ben Meiklejohn

Endorsed Vote: No

You may remember Ben from his six-year stint as a Portland School Board member. Now, he’s at it again after losing his run for school committee last year. If elected to be a Trustee of the Water District, Ben's priorities will be to deliver clean, quality water, protect the environment, and keep rates affordable. Ben’s done his homework on issues affecting the water district. For example, Meiklejohn is adamant about protecting Sebago Lake (Portland’s water source), and he would like to address the use of motorboats on the lake, since gasoline leaks can emit MTBE, a potential carcinogen at high doses.

Charlie Summers - R

Endorsed Vote: No

After The League tried multiple times to get the Summers for Congress campaign to fill out a questionnaire or show up for an interview, the Summers campaign failed to do either and thereby forfeited their opportunity to receive our endorsement—not just in the primary, but for the general election. We think this shows a lack of accountability, and that concerns us.

Susan Collins - R

Endorsed Vote: No

As Susan Collins brings her second term as Maine's Senator to a close, she has certainly made a name and place for herself in Congress. She is known as a woman willing to cross the aisle and, occasionally, to take a strong stand against the President. If elected for a third term, her seniority would strengthen Maine's voice in the Senate. While Susan supports a number of social services--like SCHIP, LIHEAP, and Pell grants-- that make healthcare, heating oil, and education more accessible for Mainers and middle- to low-income folks across the country, she lacks a holistic vision. Her claim to being a moderate is troubling when she has voted with Bush on his tax cuts for the wealthy, warrantless wiretapping, and “blank check” policies in Iraq. Although Collins counts herself as a pro-choice advocate, we question her integrity, due to her voting record on Supreme Court nominations. Maine and the League need more than band-aid solutions; we need a Senator that will advocate for substantive and comprehensive change.

John McCain/Sarah Palin - R

Endorsed Vote: No

John McCain's platform as the Republican Presidential candidate raises more than one red flag for the League. His campaign has been talking a lot about change, but after taking a close look at his stance on the issues, we see anything but. He would like to make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent, believing that in making the rich even richer, this wealth will somehow trickle down to the rest of the population. He would continue to nominate judges that would look to overturn Roe v. Wade, thus further endangering a woman's right to choose. In regards to increasing access to higher education, McCain emphasizes expanding and reforming loans in the private sector. His plan for Iraq would keep a substantial amount of troops there until 2013. Though he does distinguish himself from Bush in his view that we need to clearly define and prohibit torture, we think this is not enough to win an endorsement from us. Equally alarming is his choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate. She shares McCain's conservative economic and social views, and throws in a little Creationism in our schools to boot. When we looked for change in this ticket, we ended up seeing a lot of the same.

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente - G

Endorsed Vote: No

The League feels that these lesser-known candidates for the presidency deserve their close attention. Cynthia McKinney is a former Democratic legislator with two terms in the Georgia House and six terms in the U.S. House under her belt. She has sponsored legislation that seeks to pursue equality and justice for women, children, and racial minorities. In the late 90’s, President Clinton asked her to work abroad in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, promoting diplomatic and economic ties. She has enthusiastically taken on the fight for many causes of the disenfranchised: Katrina evacuees, veterans, and families of 9/11 victims. Cynthia’s running mate, Rosa Clemente, is highly respected organizer in the hip-hop community as a fearless and eloquent champion of education and human rights. Their positions are firmly aligned with The League’s, yet we need candidates who have the clout to win.

Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez - I

Endorsed Vote: No

After almost two decades of unsuccessful bids for the presidency and mounting controversy about stealing the presidential election in 2000, Nader is back and has received enough signatures to be on the ballot in all 50 states. This time he’s not reppin’ the Green Party; he’s an Independent who is running with Matt Gonzalez, an attorney and former President of the Board of Supervisors (think City Council) in San Francisco. Nader has spent the last 50 years working to change public policy and has been influential in creating these consumer protection agencies and laws: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. His major interests are to ensure that we end corporate welfare, to strengthen our civil rights and protections, and to cut the “bloated, wasteful military budget.” He’s proven that he has the power and influence actually to get himself on the ballot as an Independent, but unfortunately that doesn’t translate into having momentum to win.

Endorsed Vote: No

Do you want to reject the parts of a new law that change the method of funding Maine's Dirigo Health Program through charging health insurance companies a fixed fee on paid claims and adding taxes to malt liquor, wine and soft drinks?

The "beverage tax veto" is a referendum to repeal new taxes on beer, wine, and soda. The revenue generated by these taxes will fund Maine's health program Dirigo, made available to Mainers and small businesses owners who can’t afford the increasing cost of insurance. Without this tax, the program may be severely threatened. The coalition behind the referendum, Fed Up With Taxes includes major beverage companies, including Coca Cola and the American Beverage Association in D.C. With major funding pouring from out of state interests, the referendum is being dubbed a "corporate veto." The increase is estimated to be $4 per-gallon tax on syrup used to make soda, 54 cents per gallon for beer, and 65 cents per gallon for wine. Health care professionals at Maine Medical Association support the tax, stating that it makes sense to fund health care with taxes on items, like beer and soda, that contribute to poor health. The Tax Justice digest explains: "Maine voters must decide whether to reject a ‘corporate veto’ of an essential tax or face rising taxes elsewhere and seriously jeopardize the innovative state healthcare program and its beneficiaries . . . whether they want cheap beer or healthcare." The League believes that health care is a right not a privilege, and that a few pennies to help make Dirigo available to all, is a good idea.

Endorsed Vote: No

Do you want to allow a certain Maine company to have the only casino in Maine, to be located in Oxford County, if part of the revenue is used to fund specific state programs?

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a casino on the ballot for Maine. In the past, we’ve highlighted pros and cons to this issue:

Pros: Studies show that a casino would bring revenue and more jobs to Maine. Also, a slot casino already exists in Bangor.
Cons: Studies also show that casinos lead to increased crime, violence and addiction … and there’s question to whether the jobs that it contributes are low-paying.