Democrat Richard Tracy, of Rome, an experienced legislator, takes on Republican Gary Hilliard, of Belgrade, a successful business owner, for the right to represent House District 76, which includes Belgrade, Fayette, Mount Vernon, Rome, Vienna and Wayne.
The two men are seeking a seat held by Republican Rep. Dennis Keschl, of Belgrade, who opted out of a re-election bid.
Tracy said the open seat, the recent redistricting which brought in Belgrade, a town where he enjoyed lots of support previously, and his age — 63 — all factored into his candidacy some dozen years after he last served.
“I’ve always had a knack for public service and always enjoyed it,” he said recently. “I never said the window or door was closed.”
He was in the Maine House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994, then again from 1998 to 2002.
Hilliard, 59, got his start in business in bottle redemption and later moved into recycling.
He classifies himself as a legislative outsider, but he hopes to help make Maine friendlier to business.
“I want to be a legislator because I think I bring some business experience that can be useful,” Hilliard said. “I’ve watched Maine not be able to compete with other states in the Northeast as far as creating new business.”
Tracy, a longtime employee at Sappi Fine Paper and a member of the United Steel Workers Union, said he believes small businesses need help from the Legislature.
“A majority of our people are employed by small businesses, and they are the backbone of the Maine economy,” he said.
Tracy said he would seek incentives to help them prosper, possibly through state economic development programs and import-export help, when needed.
He advocates a complete revamping of the tax structure that allows the government to predict revenue more accurately.
Hilliard cites the personal property tax as one of the roadblocks facing businesses.
“Businesses pay an awful amount of money in personal property taxes on equipment, furniture,” Hilliard said. “It makes it a little bit hard for reinvestment.”
He cited a previous state investment tax credit program that allowed him to significantly expand Capitol Container Inc., one of his former businesses. “Every dollar invested equaled $1 in tax credit,” Hilliard said.
He later merged his firm with NexCycle and was president and chief executive officer in 1998, when it was named by Inc. magazine as the third-fastest-growing company in the United States.
“I worked with a lot of partners and a lot of competitors to get things done,” Hilliard said. “I’d like to take that kind of experience to Augusta.”
He refers to himself as semiretired since his three Subway locations employ about 50 people, and his previous businesses had about 300 at their height.
When it comes to other issues, Tracy favors Medicaid expansion.
“Everybody should have health care that they can afford,” he said.
He said that perhaps the expansion could be coupled with a sunset clause to make it more acceptable to other legislators.
“We’re losing a million a day by not accepting this, and that million a day will help the hospitals with the uninsured people and help increase the revenue coming into them and it will create jobs,” Tracy said.
Hilliard said he’s unsure how to address health care needs in Maine.
“There’s a lot of things we need to look at,” he said.
Hilliard said he’s also a sportsman and would bring ideas to that legislative arena as well, including one to lower the age at which Maine children can hunt to bring more children into the sport earlier. Currently children must be 10 or older in order to hunt and must have a junior license if they are 10 to 15 years old. By age 10, he said, many children already are involved in other sports.
Tracy is running under the Maine Clean Election Act, receiving almost $5,200; as of his Sept. 22 campaign finance report, he had spent almost $1,600 on palm cards and campaign travel.
“I am a campaign guru. I come from the old school and I do a lot of door knocking. I wouldn’t waste money on bumper stickers and T-shirts,” he said. “That’s just Dick Tracy. Everybody knows I squeak when I walk.”
Hilliard’s candidacy is privately financed. He had about $10,800 raised in contributions and loans and spent about half as of Sept. 22 on mailings, palm cards and signs.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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