The Local News asked candidates in three house and two senate races for the Maine Legislature to answer six questions in order to help voters make an informed choice.
Candidates were given up to 200 words per answer. We have not edited the candidates’ answers for substance, argument or viewpoint. We only lightly edited for length, obvious typos or formatting consistency. We did not fact-check or add commentary to candidates’ answers. Candidates in each race appear in alphabetical order.

Questionnaires will appear in this order:

House District 134 — Tuesday

House District 135 — Wednesday

House District 140 — Thursday

Senate District 32 — Friday

Senate District 34 — Saturday

House District 134 (Biddeford, partially; Kennebunk, partially; and
Kennebunkport):

Traci Gere (Democrat)

1. What specific issue facing your town or district led you to run for this seat? How would you bring this to the attention of other legislators in Augusta?

I have had the great privilege to serve as the Representative for Maine House District
134 for three terms, December 2020 through the present. The top priorities I hear from
constituents are housing, protecting our coast and environment, and an economy that
provides good jobs and affordability. These issues are all interconnected. People are
struggling to find and keep housing they can afford. Businesses and organizations,
including municipalities, schools, and hospitals, have difficulty hiring and retaining
employees due to the lack of housing. Impacts from storms and flooding put pressure on our infrastructure, working waterfronts, and municipal budgets. Now, due to Trump administration policies, tariffs, and the Iran war, prices for gas, food,
utilities, and healthcare are way up, making it even harder for people and families to
build good lives in Maine. I have worked closely with fellow legislators on housing, coastal resilience, and the economy. I have co-chaired two committees focused on housing and economic development, and my colleagues consider me a leader and expert resource on these issues. I will continue to raise these issues up through the bills I sponsor, the work I do in committee, and the advocacy I share on the House floor.

2. What would be your top three priorities in your first term?

My focus during my six years in the legislature has been on helping people to live and
work here. I have advanced legislation to improve access to education and job training,
return state revenue sharing to municipalities, and support business growth and
innovation, so that Maine’s economy continues to create opportunities.
If re-elected, I will continue this focus, working for policies that:
1. protect our coastal resources and support healthy and sustainable communities,
2. create housing to meet the needs of seniors, working families, and young people, and provide more opportunities for home ownership, and
3. help innovative businesses and organizations grow and stay in Maine.
This is how we keep the Maine we love and create a strong future for all.

3. What state-level policies would you support to address Maine’s housing shortage and rising cost of housing? How could you help to implement increased housing in your district?

Our area needs more housing for seniors who wish to downsize and stay in our
community and for young families and people who seek to deepen or put down roots here. This next generation is essential for keeping our towns vibrant and for working in our businesses, towns, schools, and healthcare organizations.
In the 132nd legislature, I took action to address the housing shortage, including:

— Creating a dedicated source of funding for affordable and attainable housing development

— Allowing Maine’s housing finance bank to support middle income housing development

— Providing funding to municipalities for updating ordinances and addressing housing challenges, and

— Helping manufactured housing owners qualify for mortgages.

Moving forward, I will focus on investing in our construction workforce, creating
consistent regulatory pathways for housing production, and building financing strategies to attract private capital and fund affordable housing, mixed-income development, and production capacity.

4. What would you do to improve health care access and affordability in Maine, including the future of MaineCare funding? Would you support supplemental funding of Maine Care into the future? If not, why not?

When some people do not have health insurance, it affects all of us. Those without
insurance often go without primary and preventive care and are more likely to end up in
emergency rooms. This causes needless suffering to the individuals and their families,
and has serious impacts on their workplaces and co-workers. And the cost of this care
must be covered or our healthcare systems will go out of business. So we all pay more
in the form of increased healthcare prices and higher insurance premiums for everyone.
Our healthcare system sits on this house of cards, and more people are losing their
health insurance due to Trump administration policies that cut Medicaid (MaineCare),
Medicare, and ACA marketplace subsidies. I have supported and will support helping people on MaineCare keep their health insurance, providing ways for people to purchase affordable insurance, and reforming our system at the federal level to provide affordable, quality health insurance for everyone.

5. In terms of energy, Maine is highly impacted by the volatility of the oil market, a primary source of heating fuel for many here – do you see any “out of the box” solutions to this dilemma? Should the State be more focused and create more incentives for heat pumps, solar power, and wind? If not, why not?

Protecting our environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing the cost
of energy are priorities of my constituents. We’re making good progress. The MaineClimate Council 2025 Annual Report highlights that we have reached 30% below 1990 greenhouse gas emissions levels, gotten 91% of the way to carbon neutrality, and
conserved 22.5% of Maine’s land.
We have also made progress in moving heating systems away from our dependence on
heating oil. Efficiency Maine Trust reports that Maine installed 181,024 heat pumps in
homes and businesses through 2025, towards a goal of 275,000 in 2027. I support
continuing heat pump incentives, along with funding for weatherization and heating
assistance for those who are having difficulty paying their heating bills.
Over the last two decades, the ISO New England electricity grid that Maine is part of
shifted to 55% of power generation coming from natural gas. Rising natural gas prices
are the primary driver of Maine’s higher electricity rates. I support adding renewable
energy sources and methods to the New England grid, including solar, wind, hydro, and
energy storage. The recently approved Aroostook wind power project is a good example, using the county’s steady winds to produce renewable energy.

6. What statewide policies would you support or initiate to help manage growing climate change effects such as power outages, flooding, and the need to adapt our infrastructure?

Storms, flooding, drought, and other climate effects are hitting our region hard. In 2024,
storm surge and flooding damaged homes, municipal infrastructure, and our working
waterfronts. In the legislature, I have worked to advance the Climate Action Plan, a
statewide collaboration that has produced actionable strategies to protect our natural
resources, communities, and people from the effects of climate change. Through the
resulting Community Resilience Partnerships coordinated with state support by the
Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk,
and Biddeford have been collaborating on climate strategies and have developed local
climate action plans.
Our municipal plans focus on addressing risks facing vulnerable coastal areas and
infrastructure; promoting weatherization and building electrification for residential,
commercial, and municipal buildings; and boosting community resources, natural
mitigation methods, and walkability. All three communities have received Community
Resilience Grants to help cut energy costs for families and organizations across the
region.
Moving forward, I will focus on initiatives that help homeowners improve the resilience of their homes through projects like roof hardening and moving utility systems out of harm’s way and programs to help municipalities prepare infrastructure, land use, and
emergency plans for the storms to come.

Allen Daggett (Independent)
Allen Daggett did not respond to the candidate questionnaire from The Local News.