LEWISTON — Robert Reed of Lewiston has announced his candidacy for Maine Senate District 16.

He is challenging incumbent Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, for the seat.

A native of Auburn and a resident of Lewiston since 1985, Reed is a former Lewiston city councilor and active community volunteer, including working with the Scouts, youth groups and community groups.

He has 25 years of experience working in health care finance and has served on various Department of Health and Human Services and MaineCare task forces. He said he will “bring experience and knowledge to ensure that we have a functioning system today and tomorrow” at DHHS.

His task will be to examine core services mandated by the federal government and evaluate what additional items “are required to meet the specific needs of Mainers” while also considering what taxpayers can afford, he said.

According to Reed, “my top priorities as a senator will be to ensure that the elderly and those truly in need now and in the future will have a safety net of social and medical assistance should they need it, to attract businesses and jobs to our community, to verify fiscal accountability of all taxpayer dollars and to reduce the bonded indebtedness we seem to have become addicted to.

“While it is important to bond for roads and bridges, the past practice of bonding with the promise of job creation has simply not occurred to the extent of the bonds committed to.”

As a city councilor, he said, “I proposed and had passed a resolution limiting future city bonding to a maximum of 97 percent of what was being removed from the bonded debt,” which he believes is the path to help Lewiston in the future, and a path the state should follow in its examination of the need for bonds.

Reed and his wife, Linda, have three sons.