The race for the Maine House of Representatives District 87 is between a Republican newcomer and a first-term Democratic representative who was previously known in the community for his 25 years as a Maine State Police trooper.

Tim Marks, D-Pittston, said he’s running again because he wants to continue asking questions and helping people as a representative, a role similar to being a state trooper, he said.

Jeff Hanley, a Republican from Pittston, said he’s been politically active his whole life, and he decided to stop watching from the sideline and try to make changes from within.

“I learned a long time ago that one vote matters,” Hanley said. “If I can be there to vote, that’s the vote that can change things, stop a bad law or promote a good one.”

Residents in the district, formerly District 53, elected Marks in 2012 with 52 percent of the vote over Raymond Soule, a Republican from Wiscasset. The redistricting swap of Randolph for Dresden gave the district 80 more Democrats, according to the most recent voter registration data. The seat now represents Wiscasset, Alna, Pittston and Randolph.

Marks, 54, was best known in the last legislative session for sponsoring a successful bill targeting repeat felony drunken drivers and sponsoring a bill vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage that would have overhauled the state’s concealed-weapon permit law by creating a confidential permitting system for police.

The drunk driving law allows authorities to use all prior felony convictions for operating under the influence, instead of just those from less than 10 years ago, when considering whether new offenses should be felonies or misdemeanors.

The vetoed bill would have created a central permitting system for the state’s concealed carry permit holders and allowed Maine State Police to conduct criminal and mental health background checks.

Marks said the concealed carry permit system needs to be revamped because individual towns shouldn’t be the ones issuing permits and police can’t conduct background checks on the permit holders.

But because his attempt last session failed, Marks said he would sponsor a bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit as long as they aren’t convicted felons or haven’t been deemed mentally incapable by the courts.

“If we’re not going to fix our permit system, let’s just scrap it,” he said.

Marks said some of his goals if elected are to restore revenue sharing funding to municipalities and to provide more funding for early childhood education programs. Law enforcement officials testified last session in favor of funding for the Head Start program because uneducated children are more likely to get into trouble later in life, Marks said.

He said he would also resubmit a bill that would require drivers in all fatal motor vehicle crashes to be tested for drugs. Marks said Maine is the only state that doesn’t test for drugs in fatal crashes.

“I think we really need, as policy makers, we need to know what our drivers are doing, and right now we’re clueless,” he said.

Hanley, 63, said he doesn’t want any additional rules and regulations burdening residents. The only regulations he mentioned he would seek to eliminate are regulations preventing farmers from selling milk without permits. But he said “that’s just the tip of the iceberg” and that “the list is endless.” He also is in favor of eventually eliminating the income tax.

“If they want someone who will vote in a more conservative, small state and small government frame of mind, then that’s my call right there,” Hanley said. “Like I said, we need government; we just don’t need too much.”

One of the big issues Hanley cares about is welfare reform, he said.

“I think the governor is correct. If you make welfare, if you really make it careful and no one is (de)frauding the system, it really protects it for the people that really need it,” Hanley said.

He said he didn’t have specific ideas for reforming the system, besides asking the people who run the programs to give their best advice on streamlining them and preventing fraud. Hanley doesn’t think the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal program that provides cash assistance to needy families, should allow people to get benefits in cash.

“I think it’s insane to give people cash that are on some type of welfare system,” Hanley said.

Marks said he agrees with some of LePage’s positions on welfare reform, including putting photos on electronic benefit cards, preventing EBT cards from be used out of state and requiring people to be looking for work. But Marks said he thinks the issue has been politicized because it’s an election year.

He said the state should go after welfare abusers, but he thinks that fraud totals much less money than people or organizations who overbill Medicaid payments.

The two candidates also differ on their views on minimum wage.

Marks thinks the state should raise it because people can’t live on the minimum wage and not everyone in the state has the education they need to make a good living. The government ends up paying for people not making enough money in other ways, he said.

Hanley is against any minimum wage. He said it’s a “false wage because no one in their right mind could live on it.”

Hanley said he doesn’t think it’s necessary because “if you need to hire someone, you’re going to pay whatever you need to get them there.” Everyone has to start on the bottom, and not having a minimum wage would allow the wages to find their own levels, he said.

“I think in a lot of cases, you’d actually see better compensation for work,” Hanley said.

The candidates also differ on whether to expand Medicaid in the state using federal funds.

Hanley is concerned it would eventually cost the state a lot of money if it expanded the state’s Medicaid program, MaineCare. He also doesn’t think adults who aren’t disabled should be on Medicaid, which provides funding for individuals and families with low incomes.

Marks said he would again support a bill to expand Medicaid with federal funds

“I think it’s ridiculous that we don’t do it now, and the governor is wrong,” Marks said.

He said it makes sense from humanitarian and economic perspectives because the hospitals are in favor of more people being insured. Preventive care is also cheaper for people than other procedures down the road, Marks said.

Paul Koenig — 621-5663

pkoenig@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @paul_koenig

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