Two Republicans — Maureen Blanchard and Bryan Cutchen — are seeking their party’s nomination in the June 14 primary to represent Senate District 14 in southern Kennebec County.

Senate District 14 consists of Chelsea, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Manchester, Monmouth, Pittston, Randolph, Readfield, West Gardiner and Winthrop.

Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, announced earlier this year he is not running again for the seat.

“The main reason I am running,” Blanchard said, “is that I want to lower the cost of living, running a business and working in Maine.”

As a taxpayer, she said, she doesn’t think her money is being used effectively and efficiently.

Blanchard, 53, is a Gardiner city councilor, who serves at large. Her professional history includes a variety of positions, the result of following her husband, who worked as president of various community colleges. She has been a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels, an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association and a grant writer for area agencies. She has produced television shows for Senior Spectrum and the state attorney general’s office, and she was the administrator of the 401(k) program at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.

McCormick asked her to run, she said. Serving on the City Council gives her the advantage of knowing local issues, she said.

“I have sat in executive sessions where homeowners want to buy their homes back,” which they had lost because of property taxes left unpaid because of unforeseen expenses or medical bills, she said.

“I know what it is for cities and towns to try to cut the tax rate yet get slapped with school budget increases and county increases,” she said.

Cutchen, 55, returned to Maine after retiring as a rear admiral in the Navy in October 2014, and he thinks it’s that background that makes him a strong candidate.

“I come with significant federal experience, which includes financial management and oversight of large appropriations,” he said, adding that those appropriations totaled $4 billion. He served as a liaison with Congress in validating and supporting defense department and Navy programs and managed 64,000 uniformed, civilian, union and contract personnel. As a flag officer, he found himself cutting budgets through the 2013 federal budget sequestration, which cut the federal budget. It was, he said, the most demanding of times.

But most of all, he said, he brings his leadership skills. During the course of his naval career, he said, he spent a great deal of time bringing people from diverse backgrounds together and driving them toward a common goal. “I would use that to move away from divisive politics,” he said.

“My philosophy is rooted in the values of servant leadership, service above self, and commitment to ethical conduct. Public servants should be held to a higher standard in both their personal and professional behavior,” he said, “and I will lead by example.”

At the core, Blanchard said she wants government to operate effectively and efficiently; she wants everyone to be accountable, and in her words, “have some skin in the game.”

“If I was queen of the day in the Legislature, I would say the school system should send out its own tax bills,” she said, so that what the school districts want to raise to pay for their operates is made explicit and is not combined with the municipal tax bill. “That would focus the taxpayer on who is creating the budget.”

Blanchard said she also believes in accountability for those who spend taxpayer money at state agencies and at nonprofits that receive government support. Everyone deserves a Mulligan, or a second chance, she said, to evaluate their goals and adjust their plans. There should be no third chance.

She said she supports working with technical schools and community colleges to boost workforce training as a way fuel economic development in Maine.

“We have businesses saying they have to train their workers, and it’s a big expense,” she said, citing two Gardiner companies that have sought state workforce training funds. “We have talented people in this state, but we don’t have skilled people,” she said. At the same time, she said, regulations are weighing down businesses.

“Someone once described to me that owning a business is like whitewater rafting. It’s constant chaos. That’s a really good description. It’s the hidden chaos that will kill a business. As a legislator, I will try to lessen the chaos.”

If elected, Blanchard said, she intends to continue serving as a city councilor in Gardiner. “That’s my plan. We’ll see what happens.”

Cutchen said he was invited to run for the seat after making courtesy calls to state legislative leadership at the time of his appointment to the Maine Turnpike Authority’s board of directors. He said he’s not motived to build a career in politics. He would like to continue to serve, this time at the state level.

Cutchen said he wants to see taxpayer money spent effectively and efficiently, and he favors a zero-based budgeting. Under that approach, budgets are built from scratch each year so that planned spending is justified annually, rather than adjusting the same appropriations from year to year. “At the state level, you have to have a balanced budget,” he said. “If you have a priority, what’s the offset you have to give up to fund your priority?”

Part of his military career was spent in drug interdiction in the Caribbean Sea, and he said he can use that knowledge to help Maine during its opioid drug crisis, including ensuring that state law enforcement agencies have the resources they need. At the same time, he wants to ensure that addicts seeking help get the treatment they need that will allow them to return to the workforce.

And as a veteran, he said, he’d work to connect rural veterans with the resources they need. Most veterans he’s spoken with say they’ve received good service at the Veterans Affairs hospital at Togus.

Cutchen said he is also concerned about the regulations and taxes that affect business and the secondary effects of state policy on business.

“We need to look at taxes that fledgling businesses have to pay,” he said, adding that perhaps they should be given a tax holiday to help them get on their feet. It’s an important consideration, he said, because small businesses are the leading creators of jobs. “The only way to increase jobs is attract small business to the state.”

Equally important to the health of the state’s economy is ensuring the state’s public services are world-class. Getting skilled professionals to relocate to the state depends on the services and infrastructure they find here, he said.

Republicans will have chance to make their selection at the primary on June 14. The winner of this contest will face the winner in the Democratic primary between Terry Berry, of Gardiner, and Shenna Bellows, of Manchester, in the November general election.

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ

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