I am an Independent candidate for Maine House District 47, representing Alna, Jefferson, Whitefield and Wiscasset.

For many years, I was a mortgage field inspector covering about a third of our state. My job was to visit homes facing foreclosure and see how they were holding up. As I met the people who lived there, it soon became clear that most of the time their financial problems weren’t because of bad budgeting or any kind of personal failing. Overwhelmingly, it was medical debt that accounted for most of their issues. It didn’t seem fair. They got sick and now they were on the edge of losing their home.

We see similar unfairness all over Midcoast Maine. People having to choose between paying for their prescriptions and paying their mortgage or rent. Student debt keeping the future out of reach for young adults. Crumbling 20th century infrastructure keeping Mainers from living 21st century lives. These challenges reflect a system that isn’t working for people the way it should. I want to help fix that. That’s why I’m running as an Independent candidate for Maine House District 47.

I’ve called Wiscasset home for all my life. I graduated from Wiscasset High School in 2009, then received an associate’s degree in electrical engineering technologies from Southern Maine Community College. I later returned to school and earned my bachelor’s from the University of Southern Maine. Since then, I’ve served as an assessors agent for the town of Westport Island, and am currently finishing up a master’s program at the Muskie School of Public Service also at USM. My community work includes previously serving as a member of the Wiscasset Budget Committee. I currently serve as the secretary to the Wiscasset Broadband Committee as well as the coordinator of the Newcastle-Damariscotta Broadband Expansion Project. 

My policy goals are simple: Make it easier for people to own a home, raise a family, work, and stay in Maine. This is a difficult time for the state. Home prices are at record highs, there are workforce shortages in almost every sector, and our rural areas have some of the slowest internet speeds in the country. But with these challenges come opportunities. There has never been a better time to invest in the people of Maine. I support building new affordable housing, increasing the availability and affordability of a post-secondary education, and getting every nook and cranny of this state access to a broadband infrastructure built with the future in mind.

We also need to do a better job of getting help to those who need it most. Maine has a dismal record of child deaths, the opioid crisis continues to devastate our communities, and seniors often lack access to needed care. If elected, I’ll be an independent voice for those whose voices are not always heard. I’ll never play partisan games at the expense of good policy. And I’ll always listen.

I hope you’ll join me in sending a fresh perspective to Augusta next November. It would be an honor to have your support.

Follow along at EvanFor47.com and Evan For 47 on Facebook and Instagram.