In a recent column (“Maine’s minor parties finally have a fair shot at the ballot”), Steve Collins hallucinated and said I was running for Maine House District 104 as a Democrat. I have never been registered as a Democrat in my life.

In 1993, while attending the University of Vermont, I was inspired by Bernie Sanders to register as a member of the Green Party (environmental conservation, pacifism and localism, FTW), and I have been registered as a Maine Green Independent here in Maine since 1999.

However, I decided to run as a plain-old independent in this race because I don’t think party politics is working. It seems political parties in the U.S. operate to serve themselves (and raise money), rather than the people candidates seek to represent. My focus is on helping the people of Gray-New Gloucester (as I’ve done as a member of the school board for 11 years). That’s it. I’m running as an “unenrolled” candidate, to be precise.

I understand why the mistake might have happened, obviously. If you read my policy positions and you are so used to there only being two choices, it’s not crazy to think I would more likely be a Democrat than a Republican.

But that’s the very dangerous, in my opinion, binary opposition I’m working against. The world is not black and white, and definitely not red and blue. It is a wonderful spectrum of colors, and I think it’s important we not lose sight of that.

Sam Pfeifle
Gray