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After conceding the Maine Senate District 2 election to incumbent Sen. Trey Stewart last month, I had high hopes that he would keep his promise to help the people of Aroostook and Penobscot counties survive high heating bills this winter. But as one of the eight Senate Republicans who voted against a bipartisan bill offering heating relief to 858,000 Mainers, I believe Stewart just broke that promise — a matter of weeks after he made it.
In the run up to our election, he had said, “If I’m fortunate enough to be re-elected to the state senate, I’ll ask myself two questions before every vote. First, will this vote make it more or less expensive for folks to pay their oil bill, their electric bill, or put fuel in their car. And second, will this vote make it more or less expensive for folks to afford groceries and other household goods. I’m Senator Trey Stewart and your family’s budget matters to me.”
At the very first opportunity to do right by Mainers across the state and especially at home in District 2, I think Stewart broke his word. I believe he and a small club of obstructionists in Augusta are playing politics with our lives, and they don’t seem to care who gets caught in the crossfire. Real people, like my family and others, are going to pay the price of this game. Although I ran against him in the last election, I had sincerely hoped he would do better.
Danielle Fienberg
Presque Isle
