WINTHROP — The two Democratic candidates who are squaring off in the June primary vote for House District 82 differ in what they would like to accomplish if elected to represent the communities of Winthrop and Readfield.

But Craig Hickman and Kevin Cookson do agree on at least one thing: Neither is thrilled about current efforts to try and fix the state’s economy.

“I wouldn’t cut taxes on anybody,” Hickman said. “You don’t cut your revenue when you’re complaining of budget shortfalls.”

The winner in the June 12 primary will face Republican Scott Davis, who is running unopposed.

Patrick Flood, a Republican who currently represents District 82, is unable to seek re-election because of term limits.

Hickman, 44, lives in Winthrop with his partner, Jop Blom. The couple own and operate an organic farm and bed-and-breakfast on Annabessacook Road.

A 1990 Harvard University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in government, Hickman was the Democratic nominee for District 82 in 2010 and has been vice chairman of the Winthrop Democrats from 2010 to present.

Hickman is president of the Rotary Club of the Winthrop Area and secretary of the Winthrop Hot Meal Kitchen. He also has served on the boards of the Annabessacook Lake Improvement Association, Maranacook Local Foods Buying Club, Theater at Monmouth, and Washburn-Norlands Living History Center.

Cookson, 59, lives in Winthrop with his wife, Cathy; and the couple have a daughter, Amy. A former detective with the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, Cookson runs his own investigation business. Cookson graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and has studied criminal justice and political science at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Cookson was on the Winthrop Town Council for 12 years and spent nine years on the Kennebec County Budget Committee, including eight years as chairman of both panels. Cookson also has served as a volunteer firefighter.

Cookson, like Hickman, thinks too few Mainers are making a living wage. Cookson, however, thinks there are good-paying jobs available that would help the economy grow if employers could find the right people to fill them.

“I think it starts with education,” Cookson said. “The education system in general needs to get back to teaching what today’s jobs are looking for, like technology and engineering.”

Hickman said the biggest issue facing the state is a lack of a living wage, but he’s unsure how that issue should be addressed.

“I love saying ‘I don’t know’ to questions about that,” he said. “We have a culture of getting our labor as cheaply as we can get it. I don’t know how we’re going to get good-paying jobs. It’s easier said than done.”

Hickman believes the state also can help create stability by investing more in local agriculture.

“We import more food per capita than other state in the lower 48,” he said. “I find that bizarre. It’s almost disgusting. A local food economy is a great investment in our future. Having family farms become prolific again would make the state great. It’s almost like we have to go backwards so we can go forward.”

Hickman said the state needs to encourage companies to buy their food from local farmers, who need the freedom to sell their goods without stringent government regulations.

“I’m a libertarian in spirit,” Hickman said. “I would like to buy whatever I want to buy from whomever I want to buy it.”

Cookson thinks the state needs to meet its obligation to fund 55 percent of education before investing in other programs. He said the recent effort to reduce income taxes by using money from the rainy-day fund is just another example of a new program lacking the financial underpinning to support it.

“In general, the state’s tax code should be reviewed and should be more balanced,” Cookson said. “Certainly it’s not balanced now, when you’re constantly giving tax breaks to the upper class.”

Cookson said spending has to be reduced at all levels, but he thinks the ongoing attempts to overhaul welfare — including taking 22,000 off the Medicaid rolls — are “dead wrong.” One of those afected is a woman Cookson met while campaigning in Readfield. The woman, who has diabetes, has lost her prescription drug coverage but still has medical coverage. Without medication, Cookson argued, the woman will have to make more trips to the hospital for diabetes-related illnesses. As a result, the state will wind up paying more for her care.

“Yes, I believe there’s fraud,” Cookson said. “I think there’s fraud in almost anything you look at, but just to randomly blind-side and remove 22,000 people without knowing what those issues are? How do you know in that 22,000 people, some of those aren’t the most needy?”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

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To view questionnaires filled out by the candidates, visit our voters’ guide for the Legislature at www.kjonline.com.

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