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By Emily Weston, Editor New to politics, Democratic Senate Candidate Thomas Ledue joined the race late, but remains eager and hopeful that his 25 years of educational experience make him an uncommon candidate, different from his main competitors Democrat Tom Allen and Senator Susan Collins. Ledue is worried that the future of the United States is not headed where it needs to be and that the distance between the government and the people is growing farther apart instead of closer together. “As a people we need to reclaim our government; remember that it is ours,” Ledue said. Ledue says that the government is too often looking more like a corporation, less like democracy. “I believe that Washington needs a new kind of leader with a fresh vision and clear ideas, and I believe I can offer that,” Ledue said.
On January 17th, six months after the race started, Ledue officially declared that he was running in what he calls a citizens campaign. His announcement day consisted of campaigning in Orono and Millinocket. Ledue said he decided to run for the Senate because “about a year ago, looking at the trends in society, the war, health care crisis, 100 million Americans living in or on edges of poverty and then listening to what’s going on in Washington, I was very disheartened with the direction our country is headed in virtually every political area and also disheartened with the substance of dialogue in this race.” Though Ledue is running a low budget campaign that he says can’t compete with Collins’ and Allen’s campaigns, he believes he offers a different kind of leadership than the other candidates, which puts him in a prime position. While the other candidates offer a kind of managerial leadership, he offers a visionary leadership that remains hopeful. He says he offers a clear vision that is more consistent than other candidates’ platforms. Ledue’s platform is based on four policy goals. The first goal is to create and empower people, which he will do by creating environmental security, universal health care and universal education. “The best business plan this country can have is to invest in education,” Ledue said. The second goal is to strengthen our communities by doing things such as reorienting where money is being spent and helping communities become more efficient by supporting more local agriculture and local industries that use local resources. The third goal is to build a stable, sustainable community by ensuring that jobs are not going overseas and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He plans to reduce carbon emissions by 10% in the next three years and by 80% by the year 2050. Ledue’s fourth goal is for the US to lead in partnership with the world. Ledue says that we need to re-engage with the international community and build strong relationships everywhere. Ledue has clear plans to meet all of his four goals. He feels like he can connect with the community because “people respond to what makes sense.” “There are other voices saying this; we need more,” Ledue says of his visions for the future. Ledue says that so far, the young and the old are the most receptive to his campaign. “College students understand that they have the most to gain and the most to lose in the next several years,” Ledue said. So far Ledue has crisscrossed the state from York to Aroostook County and hopes to be in every county by the end of his campaign. For the last four or five weeks he will be campaigning close to home and close to his family of four children in Springvale of York County. A lifelong Mainer, Tom Ledue grew up in Portland in a middle-class family of five children. After graduating high school, he attended USM where he received a degree in Political Science. During his undergrad years he did a lot of teaching and coaching, which led him down the educational path where he remained for 25 years. His teaching experiences range from teaching history and government in various Portland high schools, to running his own alternative school in North Berwick, to being the Principal of Noble School in North Berwick. It is these educational experiences that Ledue believes have helped prepare him to be a leader in politics. “I feel very prepared intellectually, and in terms of my skill set, I have every confidence that I can do the job well,” Ledue said. |
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