From left: former state Rep. Stephanie Hawke, R-Boothbay Harbor, will challenge state Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, in House District 89.
Former two-term state Rep. Stephanie Hawke, R-Boothbay Harbor, will challenge state Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, this fall after losing her seat to Stover in 2018.
Hawke and Stover are running in House District 89: Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, part of South Bristol, Southport, and Westport Island.
Hawke owns Hawke Motors Inc., an auto repair and sales business in Boothbay Harbor, and is vice chair of the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Consolidated School District Board of Trustees.
She said she is running again for “the welfare of Maine and small business.”
She wants to “shut the faucet off on spending” and help small businesses, including fishermen.
Two years ago, the state was better prepared for an emergency like the coronavirus, Hawke said.
“When I was up there … we were thrifty, and now we are not thrifty anymore,” she said.
“I think the small businesses and the taxpayers, they need a break, especially in times like this,” Hawke said.
Hawke said regulations are “hammering” fishermen. “They need someone to fight for them up there,” she said.
For people who do not know her, Hawke said she is “conservative financially” and enjoys being a resource for others.
“I’m here for everybody; it doesn’t matter who you are or what party you are,” she said.
“If somebody calls me, I will do whatever I can to help them or lead them in a direction to get help,” she said.
Hawke sits on the board of Rebuilding Together – Lincoln County, a nonprofit that repairs homes for people in need. She volunteers with the Boothbay American Legion.
Hawke graduated from Boothbay Region High School and lives in Boothbay Harbor with her husband, a lobsterman. They have three children.
Stover worked for the Maine Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, now the Department of Health and Human Services, for 23 years. She served as regional director for mental health, mental disabilities, and substance abuse services for nine of Maine’s 16 counties, including Lincoln County.
Now, she works as the executive director of Lincoln County Dental Inc. and program director of the Boothbay Region Community Resource Council’s Addiction Outreach Program.
A native of the Boothbay region, she attended local schools.
In 2018, Stover edged out Hawke by 160 votes, 2,624-2,464. She captured 51.57% of the vote.
