This guest column, written by the Hon. Brian Hubbell, was originally published in the Mount Desert Islander.
At a time when Maine needs steady, thoughtful leadership, I am proud to support Hannah Pingree for governor, not only because of her depth of experience but also because of the kind of person and leader she is.
When I first met Hannah in 2007, I was an MDI school board member and she represented our district as House Majority Leader and then as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives.
Those of you involved in that turbulent period of school consolidation will recall how Hannah’s belief in the integrity of Hancock County communities greatly aided our schools’ ability to retain collaborative self-governance and improve educational excellence.
In truth, whatever successes I found subsequently in my own eight years in the legislature were modeled on Hannah’s exemplary conviction that Maine people as a whole are decent and that our communities are resoundingly capable of solving difficult problems together.
Then, over the past seven years, I had the privilege of working closely with Hannah when she was Director of the Governor’s Office of the Future with a portfolio of the state’s most complex policy challenges — affordable housing, clean energy, climate infrastructure resilience, childcare, nutrition, economic entrepreneurship, and integration of new Americans into Maine’s aging workforce.
Again, within the executive branch, I saw firsthand her work ethic. She genuinely respects people, listens carefully, values differing perspectives, and treats colleagues and constituencies with fairness and decency. Moreover, Hannah is sharp on policy. She understands complicated details within their larger context and she knows how to turn good ideas into workable solutions.
That focus and discipline earns the confidence of the people around her. Her record repeatedly shows how that respect builds trust into diverse coalitions, even on the toughest issues. That combination of people skills and policy strength is rare and it is exactly what we need from our next leaders.
Maine will be stronger with Hannah Pingree as our next governor. I encourage you, my friends and neighbors, to join me in supporting her to ensure that our state benefits from her integrity, her experience and her proven skills.
