Congratulations Mike!

Amtrak conductor Mike Shaw has been elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Shaw, 36 works as conductor on Amtrak’s Downeaster.

Democrat Shaw ran unopposed in State House District 102, which covers Standish. His former opponent, Republican incumbent Gary Moore, withdrew from the race in September.

Shaw, who has lived in Standish since 2000, ran against Moore two years ago. He served as state representative for approximately a month until a recount cast Moore as the winner.

Though state officials found there were more ballots cast than registered voters, Shaw withdrew from the seat instead of asking for a new election.

In his short time in office, Shaw said he wrote one successful bill to fund a study of restoring the Mountain Division rail line.

Shaw said his experience as a “regular working guy” would guide him in Augusta. Shaw said he will work to promote alternative energy and job creation. Promoting business in clean energy and home weatherization “brings a lot of decent jobs and addresses our energy concerns,” Shaw said.

Shaw supports guaranteed low interest loans and grants for people to make their homes more energy efficient. Shaw also said promoting wood and wood pellet stoves could help decrease the state’s dependence on oil.

As far as the state budget goes, Shaw said he would work to find savings by assessing departments for possible cuts and switching to zero-based budgeting, or assuming a zero percent increase in department budgets from year to year.

“I think there’s a lot of areas in the state where each department could probably be run more efficiently,” Shaw said. “Legislators are elected to make these choices.”

“We need someone up there who can keep an eye on what’s going on and make sure that Standish residents get the best deal they can,” Shaw said.

(This item was compiled from information at the UTU and in the Portland Press Herald.)
November 6, 2008