The month of November in Maine will consist of elections for several different positions, including seats in Maine State Congress. The election will take place on Nov. 6, 2018.
Lucas St. Clair is a Maine native from Dover-Foxcroft, located in Piscataquis County. He has spent most of his life in northern Maine and now resides in Hampden, Maine with his wife and two small children.
St. Clair worked for many years to create the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, where he learned how elected officials do their jobs and how they work to make things better for the greater good of the people of Maine.
“I want to help make people’s lives better in the place where I grew up,” St. Clair added.
After graduating high school, St. Clair went to culinary school and then moved on to work in the restaurant industry for over a decade. While working in this industry, he eventually got involved in politics after being approached by his mother who helped create a national monument. Through this, he learned hands-on what politics involves and how to make big differences.
Following this, St. Clair began working in Congress on Capitol Hill to pass certain pieces of legislation including interior appropriations, a National Park Bill and Centennial Bill, where he worked closely with the White House. He was also on the Council of Environmental Equality and has experience running campaigns and polling/researching.
St. Clair has been heavily influenced by his family. Since he’s been interested in public land his entire life, he hopped on board and learned almost everything that he needed to know through this experience.
“My family is great,” St. Clair said, “We’re all very close. My mother, father and sister mean the world to me as well as my wife and kids.”
One of St. Clair’s goals includes working on the job economy. “I want to see the second district thrive,” he said. “I have really fond memories of the district as a young person and believe that we have the potential to do great things and revitalize the economy.”
To do this, St. Clair believes that it is important to make investments in infrastructure and small business administration and innovation. He also values education as it is an important focus for his platform.
“Especially early childhood education,” he says, “our kids deserve a good education regardless of where they live in the state.”
He also believes that renewable energy and lowering energy costs are crucial and are much more suitable for innovation in the marketplace in our country.
St. Clair has dedicated a great deal of his campaign toward engaging with college students.
“We have a really robust focus on college students,” he said. “What’s amazing right now is there is a young demographic in college that is incredible engaged in our electoral process. If anything, this is the silver lining of the Trump election as people have woken up to repercussions to paying attention and/or not paying attention. We have spent a lot of time talking to college students across all campuses in our district and working closely to engage people in volunteering and working on out campaign.”
When reflecting on his political experience, St. Clair looks up to several political figures. First, he talked about Martin Heinrich, a member of Congress from New Mexico.
“I admire his approach and the fact that he is a huge sportsman. He enjoys to hunt fish as much as I do, but also understands the benefits of conservation.”
Next, he talked about Senator George Mitchell, who he met when he was in middle school.
“He spoke at an event and I since have been impressed with his ability to work across party lines and be a pragmatic and thoughtful leader with not only issues surrounding the state of Maine, but issues around the country. I have gotten to know him over the years, and any opportunities that I have to listen to him speak are always incredibly motivating and inspiring,” St. Clair added.
When looking at struggles that St. Clair foresees in the future, he added that, “Getting the message across in this day and age is inspiring, but there are a lot of distractions. A lot of people are seeing a lot of issues that are affecting the way people think and stay focused on doing what is right for the people of Maine. Working with voters to make sure they feel like they are voting in their best interests is important as well because this is a large district that spans as far as Jackman, Madawaska, Hiram and Lewiston and hold a lot of needs. Each town/city has different issues facing them, and it is important to be sympathetic to what’s happening across the district will be challenging but important.”
Although St. Clair was on campus a few weeks ago, he made it very clear that he is more than willing to come by campus throughout his campaign to talk to voters.
“It’s important to engage younger people in the democratic process,” he said. His contact information can be found on his website.
