State Rep. Abden Simmons, R-Waldoboro, has announced he will not seek reelection to represent House District 45. (LCN file)
Declaring he is sick with the state of politics in Augusta, Maine Rep. Abden Simmons, R-Waldoboro, has decided not to seek a third consecutive term this year.
In a short interview Tuesday, Feb. 10, Simmons said he has informed the Waldoboro Republican Town Committee and party leadership in Augusta of his decision not to see reelection to represent House District 45, over their objections. House District 45 consists of Bremen, Friendship, Louds Island, Waldoboro, and Washington.
Simmons said he will be succeeded as the Republican candidate the district by fellow Waldoboro Select Board member Rebecca Stephens.
“I’ve gotten to know her pretty well,” Simmons said. “She has been on the board for a couple years so I am pretty confident in her.”
Stephens said on Wednesday, Feb. 11 that she has her paperwork in order and plans to file it in Augusta within the week to formally declare her candidacy.
“I look forward to serving the people of District 45,” she said.
Stephens and Simmons contested the GOP primary nomination for the House District 45 seat in 2023. Simmons won the nomination and returned to the Maine House in June that year, defeating Wendy Pieh, D-Bremen, in a special election following the resignation of former Rep. Clinton Collamore, D-Waldoboro.
The election marked Simmons’ return to the Legislature after a five-year absence. He was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2016, defeating Dr. Emily Trask Eaton, D-Waldoboro. In 2018 he was unseated after one term by Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, I-Friendship.
In 2022, Simmons was the Republican candidate for Senate District 13, which consists of all of Lincoln County except for Dresden, plus Washington and Windsor. He ultimately lost to Cameron Reny, D-Bristol.
A Waldoboro native, Simmons dug clams and set traps for lobsters and crabs in the Damariscotta River with his father in his youth and helped cut wood in the winters.
With his wife, April, Simmons has owned and operated A & A Shellfish Inc., a clam-buying operation, since 1996.
Although he is done in Augusta, Simmons said he will retain his seat on the Waldoboro Select Board. In contrast to his experience at the state level, Simmons said the select board works well together and has accomplished a lot to move the town forward during his tenure, citing aquaculture programs protecting the Medomak River and the town’s community navigator program as two examples.
According to Simmons, rank-and-file House members will often work constructively in committee, but anything that smacks of bipartisan solution is stymied by House leadership. While the Maine Democratic Party currently controls the Maine House, Simmons said he believes this is an ongoing “tat-for-tat” situation and not specific to the current leadership. When Republicans regain control of the House in the future, they will likely continue the pattern, he said.
“There’s no negotiations,” Simmons. “One side shouldn’t get everything they want. I have Democrats asking me questions and stuff but when you get to the higher powers, the speaker, the president, they don’t give a (expletive) about what you want. You’re an underling. They don’t care.”
Time and time again, Simmons said he has seen efforts at solving problems fail as party leadership dictates priorities from the top. The result is lawmakers say one thing in committee and the vote differently when the bills come up.
“They don’t vote the way they should be voting for the state of Maine and it is so frustrating,” Simmons said. “There is nobody in the middle willing to negotiate. It’s either my way or the highway, and it’s on both sides. We could get a lot done for the state of Maine, but nobody really cares what I think.”
Citing one recent example, Simmons said he introduced bill that would have taken the community navigator program modeled in Waldoboro statewide by taking 20 unfilled positions out of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and assigning them to municipalities across the state. In Waldoboro, the community navigator connects residents with providers who can help them meet essential needs.
It was a Democratic program originally, Simmons said, but he felt very strongly about its value. Ultimately two Democratic legislators introduced bills nearly identical to his and both advanced out of committee before his did.
“I’m sick and tired of being hamstrung because there is an R next to my name,” Simmons said. “I was always an independent until I wanted to vote in a primary. Up there, you’ll get your throat cut without even realizing it and it’s not fair to the people that represent these areas.”
A member of the Marine Resources Committee, Simmons pointed out he is the only member who works in the industry. In fact, he said, he is one of the few incumbent state representatives who actually works for a living. Most state representatives are either “trust fund babies” or retirees, he said.
“I went to be up there to be useful and if I am not there being useful, it’s wasting my time,” he said. “And it’s costing me a lot of money to be up there. Wasting my time and wasting the taxpayers’ money.”
His fellow committee members appreciate his expertise, Simmons said, and committee Chairs Sen. Denise Tepler, D-Sagadahoc, and Rep. Allison Helpler, D-Woolwich, both gave him a chance to ask questions. Functionally the Marine Resources Committee has been a pleasure to serve on, he said. Unfortunately that camaraderie does not translate to getting things done.
In his experience in Augusta, there are people at the extremes in both parties who absolutely refuse to work across the aisle, but most of the House members he dealt with were willing to work together. He said the whole experience has soured him on politics at the state level.
“I can’t trust anybody,” he said. “I can’t look at anybody. I can’t stand somebody lying to my face. … It’s affecting my home life, my family, because I am so angry. My time is just as valuable as anybody else’s.”
