Chenette first to the ballot in Senate re-election bid

​SACO - State Senator Justin Chenette has turned in the required signatures needed to be placed on the ballot for re-election to the Senate seat representing the communities of Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Hollis, Limington, and part of Buxton. He is the first candidate in the Senate District 31 race to do so.
 
Chenette has served 4 consecutive terms in the legislature with 4 years in the Senate and 4 years in the House of Representatives under his belt. At 28, Chenette continues to be the youngest member of the Senate. He is the Chair of the bipartisan Government Oversight Committee, Chair of the Marijuana Advisory Commission, Co-Chair of the Democracy Reform Caucus, and is a member of the Environment & Natural Resources Committee, Senate Ethics Committee, and the Maine Climate Council's Coastal & Marine Working Group. Chenette also serves as a Citizen Trade Policy Commissioner.
 
“I’ve always had a personal governing philosophy that legislators need to be the peoples’ lobbyist. It is, after all, your seat not mine,” said Sen. Chenette. “After years of fighting, advocating, and persisting, I’ve finally broken through the establishment to achieve sizable progress in creating a more ethical state house.”
 
This past term, Chenette has championed and passed comprehensive campaign finance reform that bans lobbyist contributions to lawmakers and candidates, closes the revolving door of legislators becoming lobbyists, and ends the ability of legislators to use political action committees as personal slush funds. Aside from ethics, Chenette also passed legislation that adds water in Maine statutes as a public right, overhauls our anti-bullying laws to ensure student safety, bans offshore oil drilling, and creates added consumer protections from robocall harassment.
 
“It’s critical we have a Senator that not only talks about leadership, but delivers real results both at the state house and here at home,” says Sen. Chenette. “I’ve been working around the clock to ensure the Maine Turnpike Authority moves forward on the $40 million project to open up Saco’s old exit, coordinate the Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner visit to Saco to discuss how the state can be a partner in Camp Ellis erosion mitigation, and push the Department of Education to discuss additional ways to fund school construction projects like Young School.”
 
Chenette is in the process of getting qualified as a Clean Elections candidate, collecting only $5 contributions from 535 voters in the district by the April deadline. He is once again refusing lobbyist, corporate, PAC, and special interest contributions. If individuals would like to help out, they can visit www.KeepJustin.com.