Portland’s three Democratic state house primaries

The race to race again

By DEIRDRE FULTON | May 30, 2012

Many Portland Democrats will have local legislative races to vote in during June 12's primary election, in addition to the top-billed US Senate races. Three of Portland's eight House districts have Democratic runoffs, with a total of eight candidates. While each has pet issues and projects, one-on-one interviews reveal a common thread: severe disillusionment with the current leadership in Augusta. Here, we offer short profiles of a few candidates who hope to take back the State House this year.

THE BRAINIACS OF DISTRICT 115 includes Deering and Back Cove neighborhoods

JUSTIN COSTA | This recent law-school graduate, who chairs the Portland School Board's finance committee, says he understands "not just Portland, but politics." Costa, 28, whose successes in that post include the creation and approval of a multi-year budget, believes "we need to be a lot stronger in Augusta." It's a risk, he says, "sending people who are brand-new to Portland or brand-new to politics." Costa believes we must reform Maine's economy to reflect the national economic shift from goods to services; he also says creating policies that favor the wealthy "is not just a moral issue, it's bad economics." He advocates close examination of tax breaks, capitalizing on wind-energy resources, and using "student achievement data in a way that teachers recognize is educationally valuable."

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Topics: News Features , Justin Costa, Matt Moonen, Malory Shaughnessy, More

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ARTICLES BY DEIRDRE FULTON

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