The Our Power Campaign recently surveyed all candidates running for Governor, State House, and State Senate on three questions regarding their citizen initiative. The questions were:
1. Have you personally requested or accepted a financial contribution from CMP, Versant Power, or their owners (Avangrid, Iberdrola, or ENMAX)?
2. Are you aware that CMP and Versant, already spending over a million a month on ads warning against “government ownership” of our grid, are for-profit monopolies owned by foreign governments?
3. When presented with a petition signed by over 70,000 Maine voters to create a privately-operated, nonprofit utility to replace CMP and Versant and to finance our energy more affordably, will you vote down any attempt to confuse voters and kill the measure by adding a competing question?
Below, you can see candidates who responded to the questionnaire and their answers. If you have questions or would like more information about the survey, please contact Andrew Blunt at andrew.blunt97@gmail.com.
| Candidate Name | District | Q 1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Hunkler (I) | Governor | No | Yes | Yes |
| Danielle Fienberg (D) | SD 2 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shawn Bean (D) | SD 3 | No | Yes | No |
| Nicole Grohoski (D) | SD 7 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Eric Rojo (R) | SD 8 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mike Tipping (D) | SD 8 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Pinny Beebe-Center (D) | SD 12 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Betty Ann Sheats (D) | SD 15 | No | Yes | Undecided* |
| Rick Bennett (R) | SD 19 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Donna Bailey (D) | SD 24 | No | Yes | Undecided** |
| Dana Appleby (D) | HD 1 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Melissa Hinerman (I) | HD 10 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Roy Gott (I) | HD 12 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Lynne Williams (D) | HD 14 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Marianna Reeves (I) | HD 21 | No | No | Undecided*** |
| Heather "Betsy" Garrold (I) | HD 38 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Jan Dodge (D) | HD 39 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Stephen J. Hemenway (R) | HD 39 | No | Yes | No |
| Valli Geiger (D) | HD 42 | No | Yes | No |
| Les Fossel (I) | HD 47 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Evan Goodkowsky (I) | HD 47 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Allison Hepler (D) | HD 49 | No | **** | Undecided**** |
| Jason Desjardins (R) | HD 50 | No | Yes | No |
| Rebecca Jauch (D) | HD 51 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sally Cluchey (D) | HD 52 | No | No | Yes |
| Lindsey Harwath (I) | HD 62 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Alicia Barnes (D) | HD 66 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Iver Lofving (D) | HD 70 | No | No | No |
| Jennifer Poirier (R) | HD 70 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Allison Perkins (D) | HD 71 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Vincent House (D) | HD 73 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Greg Kimber (D) | HD 74 | No | Yes | Yes |
| David Thurston (D) | HD 78 | No | No | Yes |
| Nathan Burnett (D) | HD 82 | No | No | Yes |
| Jess Fay (D) | HD 86 | -- | -- | -- |
| Hildie Lipson (D) | HD 91 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cheryl Golek (D) | HD 99 | No | No | Yes |
| Dan Ankeles (D) | HD 100 | No | No | Yes |
| Poppy Arford (D) | HD 101 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Art Bell (D) | HD 103 | No | Yes | No |
| David Reed (R) | HD 105 | ***** | Yes | Undecided***** |
| Charles Skold (D) | HD 119 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Nathan Carlow (R) | HD 137 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Lucas Lanigan (R) | HD 141 | No | No | Yes |
| Ann Marie Fredericks (R) | HD 143 | No | No | No |
| Kristi Matheison (D) | HD 151 | No | Yes | Yes |
* Sheats Question 3: "Probably. I believe in the referendum process and don't believe in confusing or maneuvering around voters."
**Bailey Question 3: "Depends on what the competing question is. If it is truly a better alternative, I believe voters should be given the opportunity to choose, and I don't think they are so easily "confused." If it is just an attempt to kill the measure, I would vote against it."
*** Reeves Question 3: "I don't have enough information to reasonably answer yes or no."
****Hepler Question 2: "Doesn't surprise me," and Question 3: "Likely. I don't have the language in front of me but I am a big fan of less confusing questions on the ballot."
***** Reed Question 1: "No. I don't want their money," and Question 3: " "It depends on the question and who's behind it."