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Rep. Deborah J. Sanderson, R-Chelsea, poses for a picture with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins during a Lincoln County Republican Committee event at The 1812 Farm in Bristol March 8, 2013. Sanderson is unopposed in her bid for a third consecutive term in the Maine House of Representatives. (J.W. Oliver photo, LCN file) |
By J.W. Oliver
The Chelsea Republican who emerged from political obscurity in 2010 to upset a two-term Democratic representative appears poised to coast to a third consecutive term.
Rep. Deborah J. “Deb” Sanderson will not have an opponent on the ballot in November. She will represent the new House District 88, which includes Chelsea, Jefferson, part of Nobleboro, and Whitefield.
Sanderson combines conservative principles – she supports pro-business regulatory reform and welfare reform and aims to streamline government programs – with a libertarian streak evident in her advocacy for medical marijuana patients.
“I believe government has a function, but that needs to be limited,” Sanderson said. “I think it’s vitally important that the government serve the individuals, not the other way around.”
Sanderson successfully sponsored a bill to end mandatory registration of medical marijuana patients and fought a Maine State Housing Authority attempt to cut off assistance to patients who live in public housing.
A July report by the Washington, D.C. group Americans for Safe Access ranks Maine’s medical marijuana program as the best in the U.S. among 35 states with medical marijuana laws.
Sanderson would like to see further reform. For example, physicians can only prescribe medical marijuana for certain conditions. She would like to enable physicians to determine what conditions merit treatment with medical marijuana.
“I believe we have to trust our physicians to know their patients, know what will work for them, and give them the freedom to try this form of medication with folks,” Sanderson said.
She does not support legislative efforts to decriminalize or legalize the drug, although she thinks such a move is in the state’s future.
“I’ve opposed any measure that has come before the Legislature to legalize because I don’t like the tax and regulate – the over-tax, over-regulate – model that’s been put forth,” Sanderson said.
“There will probably come a time when marijuana is either decriminalized or legalized,” Sanderson said. “I would like to see a citizens’ initiative on that.”
Sanderson plans to work in the next session to advance a bill to legalize industrial hemp. Hemp is a fiber that derives from the stem of a variety of the same plant, Cannabis sativa, as marijuana, yet lacks the psychoactive properties of marijuana.
The bill represents an opportunity for Maine to “embrace a new industry,” Sanderson said. Traditional hemp products include rope and sailcloth; other uses include apparel and personal care products.
Sanderson is the ranking Republican on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. She was at the forefront of the recent fight against Medicaid expansion, “but we didn’t fight against it because we don’t want people to have health care,” she said.
Instead, Republicans question the cost and effectiveness of the program.
Approximately 70,000 to 100,000 Maine residents would qualify for Medicaid if the state expands the program, Sanderson said.
Two-thirds of those residents – those at 100 to 138 percent of the federal poverty level – qualify for affordable “silver plans” through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, Sanderson said.
Another 25,000 or so do not qualify because their income falls under 100 percent of federal poverty level, currently $11,670 for an individual.
Some individuals might have opportunities to increase their income and qualify for a silver plan, Sanderson said. For example, someone who works a full-time, minimum-wage job would earn $15,600 a year.
Other individuals will not be able to do so, often for health reasons. “As far as I’m concerned, those are the people we need to continue to look for solutions for,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson will also work vigorously to adequately fund programs to support Maine’s disabled and elderly populations, she said.
Sanderson “whole-heartedly” supports recent welfare reform measures, such as drug tests for recipients with drug-crime convictions and photo identification on electronic transfer benefit cards, which contain cash assistance and Food Stamps.
“I would support any welfare reform measure that brings accountability into the program,” Sanderson said.
Welfare benefits should provide for family’s basic needs, Sanderson said. Instead, some recipients use cash assistance to buy alcohol or exchange EBT cards for illegal drugs.
Sanderson had no experience in politics when she entered the race for the House District 52 seat in 2010. She collected almost 55 percent of the vote to unseat Rep. Lisa Miller, D-Somerville, and win her first term in office.
2010 was a banner year for Maine Republicans, with the party retaking the Blaine House and both chambers of the Legislature. The Democrats would retake both chambers in 2012 – but not Sanderson’s seat.
Sanderson won a rematch of the 2010 race with 51.54 percent of the vote, a margin of 140 votes in a race with 4,532 votes cast.
Miller is a “fierce campaigner” and “a lovely lady,” Sanderson said; the candidates just disagree about policy.
This year, the Democrats were not able to field a candidate.
Sanderson, 51, would not speculate about what the future might hold for her career in politics. Maine law limits representatives to four consecutive terms.
“I’m going for my third term; I’ll decide in a year whether I’m going to go for a fourth term, and after that, I’ll decide whether I’m going to go further,” she said.
“I believe in the citizen legislator model,” Sanderson said. “I think politicians who make it a career, you lose sight of the fact of what it’s like to be just a regular citizen out there, and I don’t ever want to become that, so I don’t know.”
Most importantly, lawmakers have to consider their family and their jobs outside the Legislature, Sanderson said.
Sanderson, a graduate of Lake Region High School in Naples, works as vice president of administration for Small Business Development Group Inc. in Rockland.
She and her longtime fiancé, Steve Whittier, have five children between them.
The couple likes to camp in the summer, snowmobile in the winter, and spend time at home in Chelsea, where they keep bees.
