A retired IT professional and a veteran political consultant are vying to take over the Maine House of Representatives District 42 seat, which represents portions of Portland’s Back Cove and Deering neighborhoods.

Neither seeking to fill the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Peter Stuckey has held elected office before, although both argue that their skills and experience would serve them well in Augusta.

Benjamin Collings is a political and business consultant who ran Bernie Sanders’ campaign in Maine during the Democratic primaries and has worked as a lobbyist in both Augusta and Washington, D.C. The 40-year-old Fort Kent native said he believes the experiences of growing up in rural Maine and now living in Portland give him additional perspective and can help as he works with lawmakers from all of the state – and from both parties – to make progress on important issues.

“A lot of Augusta is about relationships and building trust,” Collings said. “If you’re honest and sit down and build good faith with people … and not just wear a hat of ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative,’ you can get a lot done.”

Collings pledged to work on increasing investments into education, infrastructure and technology while helping to “restore civility, integrity and visionary leadership in Augusta.”

The Republican candidate in the District 42 race is Susan Abercrombie, a retired IT professional running on a more traditional Republican platform stressing the need for more fiscal discipline in the Legislature. Abercrombie supports Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s focus on reducing taxes and shrinking government.

“I’m a fiscal conservative,” said Abercrombie, 71. “I think we need to have more people who save every nickel rather than looking for opportunities to spend more dimes.”

Collings said his top priorities, if elected, would be to improve the quality of education throughout Maine and to find ways to improve funding for schools. He supports Question 2 on the November ballot – which would impose an additional 3 percent tax on earnings above $200,000 to generate additional education funding – as well as the $12 minimum wage proposal sought by Question 4.

Abercrombie opposes Question 4, arguing the wage hike will hurt employers and could force them to trim their workforce.

Abercrombie opposes the referendum proposal to legalize recreational use of marijuana, while Collings fully supports the legalization measure.

The two are also split on expanding background checks for gun sales. Collings called the expansion a “reasonable” step to close a loophole that allows prohibited persons to purchase gun, while Abercrombie dismissed the measure as a New York City solution to a gun violence problem that doesn’t exist in Maine.

Abercrombie is running a privately financed campaign but did not report any contributions or expenditures as of Sept. 20. Collings is a publicly funded candidate under Maine’s Clean Election Act, which limits private contributions and provides state matching funds to House candidates. He had roughly $4,900 of $5,500 in Clean Election funds remaining as of Sept. 20, according to state campaign finance reports.

 

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