I am writing to encourage the people of Senate District 11 to support and vote for Senate President Michael Thibodeau.  I had the pleasure of serving in the Maine Senate with Mike and found him to be thoughtful, honest and extremely hard working.  When I left the senate and became the Executive Director of SAM I was proud to see him re-elected and then elected by his peers as the Senate President.  

Senator Thibodeau has earned the respect of his fellow senators from all parties and those that work with him on a daily basis in Augusta.  In what can only be described as chaos, Senator Thibodeau has proven himself to be fair, level headed and reasonable and carried himself the highest level of integrity the position deserves.

I was sad to learn recently that a politically liberal group from California with no ties to Maine has decided to dump at least $50,000 into the Senate District 11 race to support his opponent.  I can only scratch my head because recently, the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, a Democrat, was reported in the Bangor Daily news as recruiting Senator Thibodeau for Governor.  According to the BDN this is what Eves did, “Term-limited House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, campaigned for Thibodeau in a surreal exchange with reporters, saying Maine would be “better off” if lawmakers removed LePage and installed the Senate president, who is first in the line of succession and he would happy if Sen. Thibodeau was the Governor of Maine.” 

As the director of SAM I am proud to endorse Senator Thibodeau.  He is a friend of sportsmen and gun owners, but I am also proud to support his candidacy as a citizen of Maine; I wish I could vote for him.

When elected to office, legislators are given the term “Honorable.” Your mail comes with this title and it follows you for the rest of your life. Some people understand that there is more to the word honorable than just a title.  Senator Thibodeau served his term with honor, humility and respect for the position, while many others in the legislature didn’t.  When tested, he put Mainers first and partisan politics second.  

He maintained Senate order and brought respect to the position of Senate President, even when criticized by members of his own party. 

The President of the Maine Senate deserves to be called “the Honorable” Senator Thibodeau, I hope the people of Senate District 11 reward him with another two years and reject out of state money. 

David Trahan is Executive Director, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine