Building care infrastructure and economic equity
How would you oversee the implementation of Maine’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave law and program, a critical element of ensuring workers don’t have to choose between a paycheck and caring for loved ones or themselves?
“I have great concerns about the way that bill was created. I support it. I support the implementation. I want to make sure that it's sustainable. You know, once you create a program like this, you can never take benefits back, and I was a little concerned about the implementation side. Because I think it's best to ramp into it, making sure that it's affordable, and it works, and the numbers add up. So, as governor, I'm going to make sure that that system works and is sustainable going forward, so that it is successful. Absolutely critical.”
Highlights from our conversation on April 27, 2026
"As governor, I'm going to make sure that that system works and is sustainable going forward, so that it is successful.”
Ensuring reproductive and gender-specific healthcare
What are your top policy priorities to address the barriers to accessing consistent, high-quality perinatal care given the rapid closure of birthing units, especially in rural areas?
“The first question I ask is, what state is doing this well? Let's find states that are solving this problem well that we can adapt from Maine. I don't care whether a blue state, a red state, or whatever, we need ideas that work. And we need to take action, which government in recent years hasn't been very good at. For me, fixing our healthcare system and getting to universal care is likely going to mean working with our neighboring states to create a new system that is not as reliant on the Feds, because there's a lot of volatility coming from there.”
What do you see as the key policy interventions to protect access to family planning and reproductive health care given recent federal Title X funding cuts?
“We need to continue state support where the feds are cutting. We don't know, from one year to the next, where those cuts will come, but right now, with the regime in Washington, it's a hostile environment for women seeking reproductive care… We need to make sure that clinicians are protected. I support the law that allows them to be protected in Maine. And we need to provide the funding for our service providers who are losing funding, and a lot of it is federal, but we're going to have to fill in the gaps with state funding.”
“For me, fixing our healthcare system and getting to universal care is likely going to mean working with our neighboring states to create a new system that is not as reliant on the Feds, because there's a lot of volatility coming from there.”
“We need to make sure that clinicians are protected. I support the law that allows them to be protected in Maine.”
Ending gender-based and carceral violence
What do you see as the key policy interventions to support sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and protect access to services given recent federal VOCA funding cuts?
“There's no reason that we shouldn't be putting some of these services in the baseline budget. I have been tremendously frustrated by the sexual assault services who have to live budget to budget in order to pay the advocates that they hire, that they're managing to hold on to despite the uncertainties and the volatility. Because the state isn't actually stepping forward and saying, this is an ongoing commitment. And we need to do that. As governor, I'm going to put it in the baseline budget to increase those, that funding.”
“I have been tremendously frustrated by the sexual assault services who have to live budget to budget in order to pay the advocates that they hire.”
Developing equitable & accessible government systems
Laws that address discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression protect all women from discrimination based on their appearance, but there are efforts in Maine and nationally to change these protections. How would you address these proposals?
“I believe that people should have the right to express themselves in whatever gender they feel that they are. And that right is under assault by certain elements in Maine and across the country, and I will fight that… We need to actually be more inclusive. And I see that politics has turned a corner here in Maine even. It's deeply saddening to me, and it has led me, actually, to run for governor as an independent, because I believe that we need to get past the finger-pointing, and we need to get to real solutions… and create a politics that's based on kindness and civility and love.”
What policies or approaches would you support to ensure all eligible voters can participate in elections, and that people who want to run for office are able to do so?
“One of my core principles is, we need to drive more people into politics, rather than what we're doing now, [which is] driving them out of politics. Politics is so off-putting. When I first got involved as a young man, like, 30 years ago, it was fun! Politics was fun. It was a place you could go to contribute to your community, build friendships and relationships, meet people from other walks of life that you'd never meet. And what we've come to now is political parties that are trying to enforce a discipline which drives people out of participation.”
“It has led me, actually, to run for governor as an independent, because I believe that we need to get past the finger-pointing, and we need to get to real solutions… and create a politics that's based on kindness and civility and love.”
“One of my core principles is, we need to drive more people into politics, rather than what we're doing now, [which is] driving them out of politics.”
Other notable quotes
“If you look at my detailed healthcare plans, which are available on our website, you'll see that my goal is to make Maine people the healthiest people in the country. It's a bold goal, and it's really difficult, particularly given the age of Maine's population. But that should be what we're aiming for, is health. The system, however, rewards financially crisis-driven healthcare, rather than preventive care at the front end. So if you look at my healthcare plan, you will see that I invert that, and we're gonna…I'm gonna work at creating a healthcare system that is universal, and that is sustainable, and that actually promotes healthcare rather than sick care.”
“As governor, I have a lot of ideas about this. I will…take state government on the road. I will hold town hearings, town meetings. I will ensure that while we're engaged in policymaking, that the executive branch actually has public hearings on issues.”
Each profile features direct quotes pulled from candidate’s answers to our questions. Full transcripts of each conversation can be found by clicking here.