Jason Putnam of Wiscasset is running in District 87, which includes Alna, Pittston, Randolph, and Wiscasset as a Democratic challenger. He is a carpenter, owning his own small business. He and his wife Rachel have three sons. Putnam has served on the Ordinance Review Committee and the school committee, which he said he would stay on if he wins the election next month. This is his first foray into state politics.

Putnam said he likes the challenge of helping people achieve a high standard of living in a rural area. While there are plenty of seasonal and other short term jobs, most of them don’t pay enough for a family to live on, and few provide benefits. Since better paying jobs require some higher education, Putnam said, he is in favor of letting some high school credits count toward community college or trade school certification. Putnam said he thinks  careers in the trades need a revitalization, and he would like to see more emphasis on “trade tracking” for students who want to work in the trades. “Trades, such as electrical or plumbing work, pay quite well. But there aren’t enough people in those fields. If they can be trained in high school and get technical school credits for it, they can move on in their career choice at an earlier age than many college graduates.”

Putnam wants more people graduating from college, too. Maine has a shortage of the right degrees for the jobs coming down the pike. “A generation ago, people graduated from high school and got work in one of the mills, and those jobs paid well. But those jobs aren’t coming back.” The upcoming jobs will be in traditional fields such as health care, as the population ages, and in new fields such as renewable energy and aquaculture. “We’ll need people who can fill those jobs, and that means college,” he said. Putnam said he is fascinated by advances in marine biology, and new ways of sustaining fisheries, such as farming fish, in addition to wild catch.

However, the cost of higher education is prohibitive, he said. “I think most people want to do something about the high cost of higher education. When I knocked on doors, a lot of people were very receptive on the big three issues of my campaign – education, health care, and jobs.”

He supports the recently passed Medicaid expansion, and said many of the people in the district he’s met make just a little too much for the older Medicaid rules. “That means they have to buy high-deductible insurance, which they never use, or go without. None of that is good. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce.”

Putnam said he is in favor of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, which could replace many jobs lost in industries that have left the state or are declining. He hopes Central Maine Power can be a partner in supporting renewables, not only for the benefit to the environment, but also because they represent a new source of high paying jobs in Maine.

He is in favor of much more stringent Department of Health and Human Services oversight, including adding many more caseworkers and reducing workloads. “It seems like in Maine each new administration reacts to the failed policies of another administration. We just flip back and forth in policies such as child welfare.” He said he is very concerned by the opioid epidemic. “When people don’t feel they have opportunities, they feel hopeless, and that sense of hopelessness leads to drug abuse and alcoholism,” he said. “People need an education, affordable health care, and jobs. Right now, it feels like the rest of the world is passing Maine by. That makes things pretty bleak for a lot of people.”

However, by working together, he said, the Legislature can make a difference. “I’ll work with anyone from either side of the aisle. I’m willing to learn.”