For two of its three top leadership positions, the Maine House of Representatives elected two openly gay reps, Matt Moonen of Portland and Ryan Fecteau of Biddleford, majority leader and assistant majority leader, respectively. The pair will work closely with Speaker of the House Sara Gideon to lead the House.
“This leadership team is strong, dedicated and poised to make great progress for Maine,” Gideon said in a statement. “We pledge to increase access to affordable and quality health care, to alleviate the burden of crippling student debt and to finally make the investments that will build the high-paying, sustainable jobs of both today and tomorrow.”
Fecteau, recently re-elected to his third term, introduced the anti-conversion therapy bill that passed the House earlier this year. Moonen, who also won re-election, for a fourth term, also serves as EqualityMaine’s executive director, where he was previously political director from 2007 to 2010.
Moonen’s spouse, Jeremy Kennedy, is Governor-elect Janet Mills’ chief of staff, having served as her campaign director during the run-up to the midterm elections, notes the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, which covered the House’s election of its majority and assistant majority leaders last Friday, November 16. The article went on to report:
Moonen was first elected to the Maine House in 2012. During his most recent term, he served as House chairman on the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. In the last session, he championed a bill preventing the state from suspending driver’s licenses for non-traffic-related offenses.
“We have a strong and diverse caucus with a wide range of talent, experience and knowledge,” Moonen said in a statement. “The next two years represent an exciting opportunity to make real progress on the issues that make an impact on Maine people’s daily lives.”
Moonen will take over from Democrat Erin Herbig of Belfast, who was elected to the Maine Senate. And Fecteau will take over from Jared Golden, who was elected Thursday to the U.S. House of Representatives in the nation’s first ranked-choice vote, defeating Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
“House Democrats represent people all across Maine, from every walk of life, in parts of the state that are similar in some ways and very different in other ways,” Fecteau said in statement. “Our top priority is to make the future brighter for all of us, not just a few, and I know each and every one of my colleagues is as eager as I am to hit the ground running and address our most pressing issues.”
Democrats will hold an 89-57 majority in the House when they convene next month. Five of the 151 newly elected members are listed as independents.
