As we look to the November U.S. Senate election, we recall the way Angus King worked as governor to honor Maine’s Franco-American reality.

Here is what King said in 1995: Maine is “enriched by North American French culture,” and “as we look to the future . . . as we develop new trading partnerships and create new business opportunities, French in Maine is a vital resource . . . One of our jobs . . . in public life is to recognize this resource with a new understanding and new respect.”

During the King administration this understanding and respect informed trade, economic development and new educational opportunities in Maine’s schools and public universities.

None of that would have occurred without King’s leadership. He recognized that cultural and economic development are inseparable, and that Maine’s Franco-American communities offer it unique opportunities.

Doesn’t Maine need such leadership?

Yvon Labbe, Tony Brinkley

Franco-American Centre, University of Maine, Orono