The story was updated at 9:20 a.m. to correct the program that Nutting overbilled.

AUGUSTA – Say what you may about state Rep. Cynthia Dill, D-Cape Elizabeth, she’ll say what she wants.

Dill, beginning her third term, is earning a reputation at the State House for her outspokenness in person and online, which is garnering new attention — and criticism.

The 46-year-old civil rights lawyer started by bragging in a recent blog post about using public campaign financing to buy a laptop computer and using it to connect with voters — and winning re-election without knocking on a single door.

That bugged some Democrats, who lost control of the Maine House for the first time in decades, because her campaign tactics deviated from tried-and-true campaign practice. It bugged Republicans, too, who saw her expensive computer purchase as a misuse of taxpayer money.

Dill also wrote an open letter to House Speaker Bob Nutting, R-Oakland, explaining why she refused to vote for him as speaker, although Democratic House leadership supported his nomination.

Nutting, a former pharmacy owner, declared bankruptcy while he still owed the government $1.2 million for overcharging Medicaid (MaineCare).

Most recently, Dill grabbed headlines by sponsoring an anti-nepotism bill in reaction to Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s appointment of his 22-year-old daughter to a $41,000-a-year position as assistant to his chief of staff, John McGough. The bill would institute a public process for family members landing government jobs.

In a recent interview, Dill, a Rhode Island native, said she’s not “making trouble.” Rather, she said, her outspoken nature is nothing new but is now viewed differently, given the political turnover in Augusta.

“I think my role may be perceived as being different this year because of the different landscape, but I think I’ve been pretty outspoken since I’ve arrived,” she said.

“I’m not just a troublemaker for the sake of making trouble, but I take very seriously my responsibility at representing Cape Elizabeth and I don’t apologize for my district and what we think are good public policies.”

With her anti-nepotism bill, Dill, a mother of two, emphasized she’s not personally attacking Lauren LePage.

“It’s about giving the candidate for the job the opportunity to explain why they are qualified and for the public to understand why it is that this person is being hired; what’s the scope of the responsibilities involved, who are the people being excluded from the position,” she said.

It’s not just her policy positions that seem to get under the skin of Republicans, however; it’s her willingness to write freely about any variety of local, state or national issues on her blog, dillsconventionalwisdom.blog spot.com, or through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

A recent blog post about a gunman who entered a Florida school board meeting satirically suggested women should go to Walmart and exchange their benign Christmas gifts, such as a rice steamer, for a “.38 special.”

“Angry fanatics are becoming increasingly more popular and can be a real time-suck. If we must put up with these guys, let’s be efficient,” Dill wrote.

Dill also vents about State House politics, such as Nutting’s candidacy for House speaker. “The Maine Republican Party is ridiculously agitated about people (me!) having the nerve to talk about their little problem with the Speaker-elect!” she wrote in one Facebook message.

Christie-Lee McNally, executive director for the Maine Republican Party, said Dill’s posts were caustic and bombastic.

“As an elected official, someone has to think twice before they put something down on paper or on their blog or say in front of the press,” she said. “It’s one thing to use sarcasm or be facetious and that type of thing, but she borders on hatred.”

Dill defended the Nutting post, which was made on Dec. 26.

“I guess I’ll just pull out that Constitution that the Republicans are always waving around and say that I have First Amendment rights to say whatever I damn well please,” she said, adding that Cape Elizabeth voters would have the final judgment on whether her writing was unbecoming of an elected official.

“Writing is something that I do to not only make what I consider to be political points but also to express myself and I have a variety of voices in my blog. Some are very serious, some are heartfelt and sad and some are attempts — perhaps unsuccessful — to be funny,” she said.

“All this talk about the freedom to have guns and the Second Amendment, the point of the blog is just, if we can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

Though she’s a Democrat, Dill said she tries to avoid labels.

“I call myself a moderate, because I feel that there are certain issues that I feel very strongly about, and there are other issues that are considered to be standard Democratic issues that I care very deeply about; on the other hand, I am a business owner and I come from a district that pays a lot in taxes,” she said.

“So it’s wrong to assume I’m just going to oppose everything that the Republicans do. That’s not my agenda, that’s not my goal in life, to be just sort of a thorn in the side of what the establishment is.”

House Minority Leader Emily Cain, D-Orono, said Dill is a valued member of her caucus.

“I do think that Cynthia offers an important perspective that offers debate within my caucus and outside,” she said in a recent interview. “Not everybody in my caucus agrees with Cynthia. Not everybody in my caucus agrees with each other on a lot of days, but it doesn’t mean it’s not important to have that unique voice heard.”

Cain beat Dill in a race for leadership of the Democratic caucus, but both lawmakers said there is mutual respect between them.

Cain sat next to Dill on the House floor during Dill’s first term and said she has witnessed her growth as a lawmaker.

“When you sit that close to somebody, you get to know them; and I have a lot of respect for the passion and perspective that she brings,” Cain said.

State Rep. Jarrod Crockett, R-Bethel, who served on the Judiciary Committee with Dill during the previous Legislature, said though he disagreed with her on many issues, he had respected her strong-willed style.

“She’s stood on an 11-1 vote before in committee, and you’ve got to admire that,” he said. “She is a zealous advocate for her constituents and she is a fighter. Regardless of whether I agree with her on policy, I can respect Cynthia as a intellectual. She’s definitely a thinker.”

Dill, who also teaches an introduction to American government class at Southern Maine Community College, is frank about her political prospects.

“I’ve run for leader in my party and I’ve never won, and so clearly I’m not doing something right if what you’re looking at is a career path to be a professional politician. But in terms of representing my district, in terms of being able to sleep at night, I just speak my mind and am pretty passionate about certain things,” she said.

MaineToday Media State House Writer Rebekah Metzler can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:

rmetzler@mainetoday.com

 

Copy the Story Link