State Rep. Wendy Pieh (D-Bremen) announced earlier this year she will not seek reelection.
“It was a difficult, personal decision,” Pieh said. “With everything I’m balancing, something had to give.”
Pieh has served four non-consecutive terms in the state legislature. During her last three terms, she was the chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. “Not that many people fight that hard to balance conservation and industry,” she said.
Pieh is stepping down to focus on her home, farm and personal life.
Her husband, a physician, works full-time in Aroostook County and is out of town a lot. Pieh looks forward to spending more time with him when he’s home, and working on getting their farm in Bremen back in good order.
“She served a very distinguished career and it’s been great to work with her [for the last four years]” said Majority Whip Seth Berry. “We’ll miss her and hope she comes back soon.”
Several people who worked with her over the years, including House Majority Leader John Piotti, echoed those sentiments.
“Wendy’s great,” Piotti said. “She was a tremendous contributor.”
Piotti served with Pieh on the agriculture committee and is the former chair of that committee. “They [the agriculture committee] cover a really wide range of issues, and some of the most controversial and emotional topics in the state,” Piotti said. “She handled all of it with skill and grace.”
Piotti and Berry both remember Pieh as a great bridge builder.
“She had strong opinions, but always tried to work with people on their terms – to see where they were coming from,” Piotti said.
Her sense of humor was part of what made Pieh such a successful representative, and what made her so wonderful to work with, said State Rep. Nancy Smith (D-Monmouth).
Smith served on the ag committee with Pieh and recalled a prank she once pulled.
The state veterinarian came to a committee meeting in a New York Yankees hat, and he received constant ribbing from many of the committee members for it, Smith said.
On the last day he was to meet with the committee, when he arrived, he found all 13 members wearing red felt hats that Pieh had emblazoned with Boston Red Sox logos.
“She’s able to take things with a sense of humor and lighten the mood when she needs to,” Smith said. “That’s exactly what you need to do to be successful.”
Pieh was a dedicated member of the rural caucus, Berry said. She was particularly successful, and absolutely instrumental, in improving school consolidation laws to give more local control, Berry said.
Pieh made the decision not to seek reelection last June. “It’s time to catch my breath and let the dust settle,” Pieh said.
The decision to take time for herself is not an unusual one, Berry said. “Great people still need to take time to focus on themselves now and again.”
Pieh said she will “probably” run again some time in the future. “It’s the best job I ever had,” she said.
Whether she returns to the legislature or not, “I’m sure she’ll be able to continue to contribute to making Maine a better place to live,” Smith said.