Democratic Rep. Matthea “Mattie” Daughtry is being challenged by Republican Michael Stevens for a third time in the race to represent part of Brunswick in the House District 49 seat.

The district covers West Brunswick and includes most of Brunswick’s downtown.

Daughtry, 31, was elected to the Legislature in 2012. Stevens, 53, lost to Daughtry in both 2014 and 2016.

In her third term, Daughtry acted as a returning member of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs.

She would like to continue her work on sustainable agriculture, saying Maine is going to have “a lot of issues affecting the state economically” because of what she called the “demographic winter” it faces now. Daughtry said part of the solution should include attracting new workers from out of state. The Opportunity Maine Tax Credit program, which reimburses student loan payments for college graduates living and working in Maine, is another initiative she supports.

Daughtry said the state needs to do a lot more to address the opioid crisis, but does not yet have the funding it needs. “We can’t arrest our way to the end of this epidemic. We need to have a wide-ranging approach,” she said.

Stevens said he is running so Republicans know “there is someone that’s trying to do something to represent them.”

He said he is “very law-oriented” and is especially concerned about illegal immigration. “I am firmly against illegal immigration and I want to do whatever I can to eliminate sanctuary cities, because you are violating federal law to do that,” Stevens said.

In regards to the opioid crisis, Stevens said although he knows it is “obviously a problem” he is only “superficially aware” of the issue. “I’m on board with whatever we can come up with to get rid of this, to quash it in whatever way we can,” he said.

Elizabeth Clemente can be contacted at 781-9324 or at:

eclemente@theforecaster.net

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