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Sara Gideon

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Sara Gideon
File:Sara Gideon Offical Portrait.jpg
102nd Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2016
Preceded byMark Eves
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
from the 48th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2012
Preceded byCharles Kruger
Personal details
Born (1971-12-04) December 4, 1971 (age 53)
Rhode Island, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseBenjamin Gideon
Children3
EducationGeorge Washington University (BA)
WebsiteCampaign website

Sara Gideon (born December 4, 1971) is an American politician serving as the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives.[1] A member of the Maine Democratic Party from Freeport, she represents District 48 in the Maine House of Representatives, which includes part of Freeport and Pownal in Cumberland County.[2]

Gideon is the Democratic nominee for the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Maine. The seat is currently held by Susan Collins.

Early life and education

Gideon was born and raised in Rhode Island. Her father is from India, and her mother is a second-generation Armenian.[3] She graduated from East Greenwich High School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1989.[4] In 1994, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C. She served as an intern for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell.[5]

Career

In 2004, Gideon moved to Freeport, Maine, and served as Vice Chair of the Freeport Town Council. She also worked as an advertising account executive at USA Today in 2003.[6][7]

Maine House of Representatives

First elected to the Maine House in 2012, Gideon was reelected in 2014 and chosen as Assistant Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives. In 2016, she was elected as Speaker by the House.[8] As a legislator, she sponsored legislation to expand abortion access and extended state benefits to families in poverty.[9] As speaker, Gideon also supported Medicaid expansion in Maine, including the 2017 referendum on the topic, and helped override Governor Paul LePage's veto of a bill to make the anti-overdose drug naloxone (Narcan) available over-the-counter,[10] aimed at preventing deaths from the opioid epidemic.[11] After Democratic Governor Janet Mills was elected in 2018, the Maine Legislature under Gideon's speakership passed several key climate change bills, including a measure requiring Maine to achieve 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.[12] Gideon also faced an ethics investigation filing for allegedly inappropriately delaying a call for Dem. State Rep. Bates, who was accused of underage sexual misconduct while in office, to resign.[13] According to a Gideon spokesperson, a member of the press informed Gideon in early summer about Rep. Bates’s sexual behavior at the all-girls academy where he taught. Rep. Bates denied the rumor.[14] When the accusations came out in a report by “The Bollard” in August, the story prompted House Speaker Sara Gideon to call for Bates’ resignation.[15]In 2019 Gideon faced an election ethics complaint for breaking a political donation law by accepting reimbursements for her political donations from her own PAC; she later apologized for the reimbursements.[16]

2020 U.S. Senate campaign

Main article: 2020 United States Senate election in Maine

On June 24, 2019, Gideon announced her candidacy in the 2020 Senate election to challenge incumbent Republican Susan Collins.[17] In the first week of her campaign, she raised more than $1 million.[18] Gideon ran against Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman in the ranked-choice Democratic primary election.[12] Prior to the July 14 primary, Gideon was endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.[19] as well as labor union and women's groups.[12] Gideon led in primary election polling,[12] and in the July 14 election won the Democratic nomination to challenge Collins in the November general election.[20] By the time of the primary election, Gideon had raised $23 million.[20] Election forecasters rate the race as a toss-up, and key to overall control of the Senate following the 2020 elections.[20]

Electoral history

2012

Maine House of Representatives District 106, 2012 Democratic Primary[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Gideon 534 50.47%
Democratic Melanie F. Sachs 470 44.30%
Democratic Patrick T. Norton 46 4.34%
Blank 11 1.04%
Total votes 1,061 100%
Maine House of Representatives District 106, 2012 General Election[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Gideon 3,525 62.85%
Republican Jody James 1,837 32.75%
Blank 247 4.40%
Total votes 5,609 100%
Democratic hold

2014

Maine House of Representatives District 48, 2014 General Election[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Gideon (incumbent) 3,226 63.93%
Republican Paul Schulz 1,589 31.49%
Blank 231 4.58%
Total votes 5,046 100%
Democratic hold

2016

Maine House of Representatives District 48, 2016 General Election[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Gideon (incumbent) 3,994 66.08%
Republican Paul Schulz 1,589 30.46%
Blank 209 3.46%
Total votes 6,044 100%
Democratic hold

2018

Main article: 2018 Maine House of Representatives election § District 48
Maine House of Representatives District 48, 2018 General Election[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Gideon (incumbent) 4,003 71.85%
Republican Paul Schulz 1,440 25.85%
Blank 128 2.30%
Total votes 5,571 100%
Democratic hold

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maine House of Representatives: Sara Gideon". Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  2. ^ Gardner, Kate (November 5, 2014). "Democrats Cooper, Gideon retain southern Maine House seats". The Forecaster. Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  3. ^ Dispatches, From News. "Indian-American Sara Gideon announces bid to unseat longtime Maine Senator Susan Collins". IndiaAbroad.com. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  4. ^ McNamara, Elizabeth (June 25, 2019). "EGHS Alum Sara Gideon ('89) In Race for U.S. Senate in Maine". East Greenwich News. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Touchberry, Ramsey. "Who Is Sara Gideon? Democrat Challenges Susan Collins, Cites Senator's Vote for Brett Kavanaugh". Newsweek.com. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Sara Gideon". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  7. ^ "The Final Word | Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon". www.ncsl.org. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Scott Thistle (November 18, 2016). "Democrats pick Freeport's Rep. Sara Gideon to be next speaker of Maine House". Press Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  9. ^ Saul, Stephanie (June 24, 2019). "Sara Gideon to Challenge Susan Collins for Maine Senate Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  10. ^ Jones, Sarah (June 24, 2019). "Susan Collins Has a New Democratic Challenger". The Cut. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  11. ^ Jon Kamp, Maine Lawmakers Clash With Governor Over Naloxone Access, Wall Street Journal (April 16, 2018).
  12. ^ a b c d Jessica Piper, How the 3 Maine Democrats running for US Senate differ on voters' top priorities, Bangor Daily News (June 28, 2020).
  13. ^ https://bangordailynews.com/2018/08/28/politics/maine-house-to-vote-on-investigating-handling-of-allegations/
  14. ^ https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/house-speaker-reprimands-westbrook-rep-dillon-bates/97-580278939
  15. ^ https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/house-speaker-reprimands-westbrook-rep-dillon-bates/97-580278939
  16. ^ Bowden, John (August 23, 2019). "Susan Collins challenger hit with ethics complaints over reimbursements". The Hill. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  17. ^ Pindell, James (June 24, 2019). "Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House, to challenge Susan Collins". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  18. ^ "Sara Gideon touts early fundraising success in run for Senate seat". Associated Press. Retrieved July 4, 2019 – via WABI.
  19. ^ Everett, Burgess. "Inside Susan Collins' reelection fight in the age of Trump". Politico.
  20. ^ a b c Emily Cochrane, Sara Gideon Wins Nomination to Challenge Susan Collins in Maine, New York Times (July 14, 2020).
  21. ^ Albair, Rebecca (July 2, 2012). "6-12-2012 Primary Election Representative to Legislature - Democratic" (XLSX). Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  22. ^ "November 6, 2012 General Election Tabulations State Representative by District and Town". Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. November 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  23. ^ Albair, Rebecca (November 13, 2014). "Representative to the Legislature" (XLSX). Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  24. ^ Packard, Melissa (November 18, 2016). "Representative to the Legislature" (XLSX). Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  25. ^ Lajoie, Louisa (November 30, 2018). "State Representative" (XLSX). Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
Maine House of Representatives
Preceded by
Charles Kruger
 Member of the Maine House of Representatives
from the 48th district district
2012–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
2016–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Maine
(Class 2)
2020 		Most recent
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