A version of this article was originally published in The Daily Brief, our Maine politics newsletter. Sign up here for daily news and insight from politics editor Michael Shepherd.
Between term limits and two Republicans stepping down from their leadership posts, the Maine Legislature will enter the new year with a completely new crop of top lawmakers except for Senate Democrats, who return Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and his team.
There are a few ways to become a legislative leader. Top posts usually go to people who are reliable votes for the party’s agenda, who raise a lot of money for their campaigns or who spend lots of time assisting frontline candidates on the campaign trail. It usually helps to be a member in a safe district, so you have time to help others and build your own statewide profile.
After Democrats held the Legislature, Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland will become the House speaker, while Reps. Maureen Terry of Gorham and Kristen Cloutier of Lewiston took the No. 2 and 3 positions. For Republicans, Sens. Trey Stewart of Presque Isle and Lisa Keim of Dixfield will lead alongside Reps. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor and Amy Arata of New Gloucester in the House.
On the Democratic side, Talbot Ross is a progressive choice for speaker, having opposed Gov. Janet Mills on key issues including policing overhauls and tribal rights. She also voted against her party only 1.5 percent of the time in the past Legislature, about half as much as the median member. Cloutier attended a protest in Gardiner against gun violence after a spate of hoax threats against Maine schools this month, according to the Kennebec Journal. Mills has resisted Democratic gun control pushes in the past.
Republicans have picked different types of lawmakers. In the Senate, Stewart was the second-most reliable vote for his party over the past two years, trailing only outgoing Minority Leader Jeff Timberlake. The 28-year-old ran for Congress briefly last year. Seen as a rising star on his side, he could use the position to map out a run for higher office down the road.
Faulkingham comes from the libertarian wing of his party, first getting wider notice in 2012 for supporting insurgent presidential candidate Ron Paul. The lobsterman played an outsized role in bigger campaigns this year, serving as a surrogate on fishing issues for former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in his failed campaign against U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of the 2nd District.
He is an outspoken member, linking federal lobster regulations to a vague “globalist agenda” in a September tweet. On talk radio last week, he complained that “the woman in the Blaine House” took credit for the $850 relief checks that were initially a Republican idea. ( She credited them when she unveiled the proposal, but it was criticized by former Gov. Paul LePage, something that had the effect of diluting Republican credit.)
But he has been more varied in the Legislature than his campaigning may suggest. Faulkingham sponsored a first-in-the-nation constitutional “right to food” that advanced behind a coalition of Democrats and Republicans and was approved by voters last year. He also led a bill last year that made Maine the fourth state to end civil asset forfeiture. He voted against his party 10 percent of the time, which was fourth-most among House Republicans.
Rank-and-file lawmakers often change when they assume leadership roles in which they must keep their caucuses united. But Faulkingham is clearly the biggest wild card to make it into one of the top positions this time around, although Talbot Ross and her leadership team will be worth watching as well to see where they choose to see where they push Mills.
