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Augusta is shrouded in droopy, dark clouds as Emily Cain rounds the bend on Capitol Street at 9 a.m., headed for her new job. Her 80-mile commute through the rain and fog is all but forgotten when the green dome of the Maine State House comes into view.
“Every day, I come around the corner and see the capitol dome and get so excited,” said the freshman representative from Orono.
For Cain, 24, the state capitol building has been her destination almost every day since being sworn into office Dec. 1, 2004 as the youngest member of the 122nd Legislature. She was joined that day by the oldest, Walt Wheeler, 79, of Kittery.
While the first session of the House is usually reserved for initiating freshman, Cain’s group had to address the pressing property tax issue. For Cain, there was so much to learn and so little.
But being employed as the youngest legislator for only two months hasn’t prevented Cain from branding her mark on state government already. To date, she has sponsored or cosponsored 27 bills to the House, many of those pertaining to higher education.
Cain graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine with highest honors in 2002, majoring in music education. She cofounded the Renaissance Singers, the UMaine female a cappella group, and still uses her talents to periodically perform the national anthem before session.
She’s currently employed part-time as the coordinator of advancement in the Honors College. As an alumna, she supports her alma mater and the town in which it’s located by displaying the Black Bear license plate rather than a legislative tag on her car.
“I love my district,” she said. “I feel very lucky. I cannot be a representative from a lot of places, but I can be the representative from Orono.”
Cain likens a freshman legislator to a freshman college student.
“Just as in college, there are many new avenues to explore,” she said. “But you have to get involved. Things aren’t just going to show up in front of you.”
Cain was granted a seat on the Joint Standing Committee of Education and Cultural Affairs. Speaker John Richardson also appointed her to the New England Board of Higher Education. With an undergraduate degree in music education and master’s degree in higher education from Harvard, Cain is a voice for post-secondary education on both committees. As she arrives at her desk, she explained the clutter.
“One of the funniest things about being a representative is, when you come in every morning, there is stuff on your desk like you wouldn’t believe,” she said.
Piled around seat number 46 are various handouts “from about a million people,” 10 phone messages, a package of free handgun locks and a sprawl of papers.
“I keep Tylenol and Advil in my desk for a good reason,” she said.
Every piece of literature Cain doesn’t keep, she will donate to the Orono Public Library. She said it’s an easy way to help her constituents informed.
After opening her mail and grabbing breakfast, Cain sits down at the calendar caucus, a meeting of freshman legislators meant to prompt the bunch through legislative procedure.
“It’s a learning environment,” Cain said. “When that parliamentary procedure you’ve heard about becomes reality, it helps to have people teach you as you go along.”
Soon, the bell rings, signaling the House is ready to convene.
Just before the speaker approaches the podium, Rep. Dick Blanchard of Old Town asked the freshman legislators to sign a framed photo.
“When you become governor, I’ll have proof that I knew you,” Blanchard said.
According to Cain, she and three other representatives under 30, belong to the “Kiddy Caucus.”
One member, Jeremy Fischer of Presque Isle, only two months older than Cain, said youth is a powerful tool.
“She’s a necessary voice for the Orono population,” Fisher said. “Since she’s the only young person on the education committee, she really takes it to us on education issues to ensure funding.”
But that’s not the only thing Cain helped with.
“She took my place as the youngest person here,” Fisher said. “That’s not the mantle you want to carry in Augusta, so I bought her dinner after she was elected to thank her. She’s very intelligent, very charismatic. That’s a good thing to be around here.”
Others agreed.
“She’s the brightest girl here,” said Rep. Stan Gerzofsky of Brunswick. “She’s very mature, too.”
Throughout the next eight hours of committee meetings, Cain listened to more than 50 people testify on education issues. She heard testimonies of crying mothers and laughing children.
Despite the tedious work that takes place in a sweltering room, Cain said she isn’t frustrated.
“It can be challenging at times,” she said. “I’m dying to help people, but sometimes there just isn’t enough money. That’s why it’s important to ask the right questions and get the right answers.”
By the time Cain exits the committee room, it’s past 9 p.m., more than 12 hours since she began her day in Augusta. She won’t make it back to Orono and her husband because it’s so late. Instead, she stays in a hotel just to go back to the House early in the morning.
“At the end of the day, it’s worth all the hard work,” she said. “The best thing about being a representative is meeting new people. I love to serve my constituents in Orono. They elected me. Now I have to satisfy their needs.”
During her campaign, Cain knocked on every door in town and stood outside dining commons on campus for 15 nights in the cold. It paid off. Cain ended up capturing 62 percent of the vote in Orono.
Mary Cathcart, a former legislator from Orono who recruited Cain to run, said the freshman legislator can go nowhere but up.
“She’s attractive, talented and serious about her goals in life,” Cathcart said. “She has a bright future because of her ability to work with different kinds of people.”
In less than two years, Cain will decide whether to run for re-election. If she does, a re-election campaign will take the same effort it took initially. With thousands of residents graduating each year, new voters come in, and she’ll plead for their votes all over again.
For now, Cain is making the best of it.
Seven years ago, after moving from New Jersey and attending UMaine, she never imagined she would be a representative.
“I tell my friends from New Jersey what I do, and they don’t believe me,” she said
And she still can’t imagine what she’ll be doing years from now.
“I’ve learned that you can’t plan too far ahead,” Cain said. “Things happen for a reason, and I just go with the flow.”
