Dale C. Harmon (Molly Rains photo)
Dale Harmon, a Boothbay Region Water District foreman and longtime Boothbay Select Board member, said he is running for state Senate to advocate for fiscal efficiency, lower energy costs, and smaller government.
Harmon is seeking election to represent Senate District 13, which includes all of Lincoln County except for Dresden, as well as Washington and Windsor. He is running against incumbent state Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Bristol,
Harmon was born in Boothbay Harbor and has lived in the area all his life, except for two brief stints in Maryland, once when his parents briefly moved to the state in Harmon’s youth and once more for about two weeks at age 20. The forays proved to Harmon that he wasn’t meant for the city, he said.
“I actually very quickly realized that I was a small town guy, and I liked being a small town guy … I’m definitely of Maine blood and of Maine spirit, and I will be here till the end,” he said.
Harmon attended Boothbay Region High School and graduated with the class of 1989. He attended Central Maine Technical College – now Central Maine Community College – for one year, intending to study building construction. He left after one year to join the workforce.
After that, Harmon held a variety of what he described as “odd jobs,” from working at the local transfer station to assisting builders and spending about one year at Bath Iron Works.
Harmon began working with the Boothbay Region Water District after being laid off from his job at BIW while expecting a child with his first wife.
Though he said the benefits were what first drew him to the water district, Harmon quickly “fell in love” with the work, he said. The utility distributes water to about 3,600 customers and maintains water lines throughout the Boothbay peninsula.
During his 25 years with the water district, Harmon has overseen maintenance and construction, worked with homeowners and contractors, and trained staff. He is currently in a leadership role as distribution foreman.
Harmon hopes to apply his familiarity with utilities to work at the state level, saying he would request a placement on the Joint Standing Committee on Energy and Utilities.
“It seems to me that’s where my kind of expertise would be most utilized – whether I get there (on the committee) or not, I can’t say,” he said.
Harmon said his background also informed one of his major concerns: the rising cost of energy bills.
“Energy costs are through the roof, and I think we have an ability at the state level to do something about that,” he said.
Harmon said he believes the state should not mandate or finance use of “green” energy exclusively, saying that such measures infringe on a free market that would lower energy costs.
“I think you have to let a little bit of free trade run and open up the bidding, the competitive bid a little bit so people can drive prices down,” he said.
Lowering fuel costs, Harmon said, could address the high cost of living in Maine with a ripple effect.
“Whether that be fuel bills, diesel, fuel, oil, kerosene, electric, solar, whatever, whatever it is – if you can get energy costs down, that should have a major trickle-down effect to everybody,” he said.
Harmon has also served on the Boothbay Select Board for 16 years. In May 2023, he was reelected for a sixth term.
Originally, Harmon said, he was inspired to run for the board while “griping” about local politics in a downtown coffee shop. A local who Harmon knew told him he could either be part of the problem or the solution, and that convinced him to run for the board, he said.
“The same kind of thing applies here, where I’m not liking the way the state’s going,” Harmon said.
Harmon hopes to apply his experiences from his time on the select board to attempt to control spending at the state level. In his time on the select board, Harmon said he is proud the board was able to avoid steep jumps in the tax rate.
“We’ve held a pretty tight line,” Harmon said. “You learn to be as efficient as you can.”
By contrast, he said that overspending by the state was another of his main concerns and a major motivating factor behind his campaign.
“I think the state is completely inefficient, and I think it needs to be much more efficient,” Harmon said. “Going forward, I think spending is out of control.”
To control spending, Harmon said he wants to see state benefit programs assessed to ensure they do not “overlap” and increase scrutiny of who is eligible to receive benefits.
As an example, Harmon said he would support the reinstatement of property tax stabilization for seniors, but with amendments, such as an earnings cap on eligibility.
“I don’t think there’s anybody policing a lot of these programs to make sure that the people that are supposed to be, you know, qualified to get these benefits, are qualified,” he said.
Harmon said he had “no issue at all” with helping people who are “in hard times” or disabled, but thought benefit programs needed to be more selective in order to be sustainable.
“You can’t just swing the gate wide,” he said.
Generally, Harmon said he wants to limit the influence of state government on local affairs.
“The government is generally part of the problem, and I would like to make it as small as possible, to be as little of a problem as possible,” he said.
In addition to hoping to address overspending, Harmon, who describes himself as a moderate Republican, said he is running to bring a “true conservative” voice to represent Senate District 13.
“I’m a true conservative. I don’t want the government in my house. I don’t want the government in my office. I don’t want the government in my car. I don’t want the government in my doctor’s office,” he said.
Excessive government mandates in any field are concerning, Harmon said.
“To mandate the people of Maine – we do not belong in a dictatorship,” he said. “We are a constitutional republic and we should stay as such.”
He applied this viewpoint to energy sourcing and bills, but also identified proposed updates to Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines for fire departments as an example of harmful blanket mandates.
The proposed guidelines would create stricter regulations for emergency personnel nationwide, with many of the required changes carrying a prohibitively high price tag.
Harmon experienced a house fire in 2006 and said the event reinforced his belief in the importance of local fire departments, many of which could not afford to implement the guidelines and would face consequences or significant changes as a result.
“They arrived in four minutes, but it was still a total loss … the Boothbay Fire Department was spectacular, but that’s how quickly it happens. We need to fight back,” he said.
The mandate would put undue strain on local departments, Harmon said. Maine legislators need to advocate against the guidelines and potentially partner with other rural states that would be similarly affected by the proposed rule, he said.
The lack of volunteer firefighters in the state, Harmon said, would be best addressed by integrating more civics lessons into the education system and encouraging public service among children from an early age.
Harmon said his goals for a first term in the Legislature, if elected, would center on learning, networking, and staying true to himself, though he would also prioritize compromising when necessary to work across the aisle.
“If we have to take several small bites of an apple over several years in order to accomplish something, well, that’s what you have to do,” he said.
Harmon also said it is essential that the Legislature make headway on addressing the cost of living. The economy, Harmon said, has been consistently front-of-mind among locals during the months of his campaign.
This is affected by the low inventory of affordable housing in Maine, Harmon said. Increasing the stock of affordable homes and affordable rentals in the state should be a priority for the Legislature, he said, adding that the high cost of housing and living threatens the American Dream in Maine.
“The American dream is almost unachievable right now,” he said.
He said L.D. 2003, a 2022 law intended to increase housing stock in Maine, was good for some communities but, more broadly, an example of another “cookie-cutter” regulation that could not serve rural towns.
“It’s going to work great in certain communities, and I think that’s spectacular … and I also think that it’s not going to work well at all in other communities,” he said.
Harmon discussed potential tax breaks for developers who construct dwellings in rural areas and regulations to prevent affordable housing from being sold as second homes as potential measures for the Legislature to take.
He also acknowledged that, though he believes strongly in a free market, short term rentals have had an impact on the availability of housing stock in Maine.
“One of the things that we’re going to have to consider is how to make it so the residents of Maine that need the housing the most get that housing,” he said.
Harmon is endorsed by the Christian Civic League of Maine.
Harmon lives in Boothbay with his wife, stepdaughter, and golden retriever, and enjoys hiking and spending time outdoors. He also has two adult children who live locally.
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
