Kathleen Sullivan, LCSW, lives in Freeport.

It was March 2020 when COVID snuck into Maine, isolating us from friends and family and leaving us feeling afraid and uncertain. The one person we could turn to for direction and comfort was Dr. Nirav Shah, Maine’s CDC director, who at 2 p.m. every day appeared on our local TV station, looking composed, calm and competent.

He talked us through those dark, rough months and even today when I hear his voice or see his smile, a warm rush comes over me, like seeing the face of a kind father.

In my field, we call this feeling “transference.” I learned about transference in the same medical school where Dr. Shah obtained his medical degree in a dual law and medical degree program — at the University of Chicago — many years after I graduated from there and served on the faculty in the psychiatry department of the medical school. I should note that Dr. Shah himself has never practiced medicine, nor is he qualified to do so, as he never completed a residency.

So, we all have a big transference to Dr. Shah? What’s the problem with that?

The problem with all transference is that it clouds our decision making and judgment and tempts us to follow those people we feel transference toward into situations that may not benefit us.

Is Shah as qualified for governor as other candidates who are running? In my opinion, he is not. To start, let’s look at his background. All of Shah’s experience in policy has been in the area of healthcare. Many of the other candidates have a much broader level of experience in policy issues that will be so necessary to meet this difficult moment in government.

It is worth noting that not all his work in healthcare has been well received. In 2015, Shah
worked for the anti-labor governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner, when a deadly outbreak of
Legionnaires’ disease broke out at the Illinois Veterans Home. Shah and Rauner’s handling of this outbreak was so poor and controversial that prominent government leaders — including U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth — called for Shah’s resignation.

He opposed medical use of cannabis, twice overruling the governing committee and implementing his own beliefs, which prompted two lawsuits against him that he eventually
lost.

Even here in Maine during the pandemic, Shah’s response to the needs of minority groups that were the most severely affected by the disease was agonizingly slow. This remains a little-known but very real piece of the story of COVID-19 in this state.

Shah’s current platform does not support landlords being required to take Section 8 vouchers for low-income housing, nor does it favor a rental registry which would help people find a place to live. When asked about where revenue should come from he, cited gaming and betting as a source, money that currently goes to our tribes. He said he would have vetoed the recent data privacy bill in favor of businesses.

While I don’t believe that being “from away” disqualifies anyone for this office, we need to remember that Shah has lived here for a very short four or so years, a time frame that would greatly limit the connections and networks he can draw from to put together an administration.

In summary, I believe that too many of us are guided not by a reasoned and researched evaluation of his qualifications, but by those warm, fuzzy feelings in our hearts left over from our time with him, in those dark days of 2020, when he was such a great help to many of us.

The times are very different now. In order to weather the difficult present times, we need a different set of skills and experience than the set Shah brings.