The issue of wages and jobs is a critical one for Maine, not least of all in Androscoggin County and Lewiston-Auburn.

The poverty rate for all of Androscoggin County is 14.8 percent and its median income is $44,826. That poverty rate is higher than the state’s overall rate and that median income is below the state median.

Recently, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report citing that increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 would boost earnings for more than 16.5 million Americans nationally, lifting 900,000 people out of poverty.

State Sen. Emily Cain has been a relentless advocate for working families across this state, and she has made increasing the minimum wage a centerpiece of her campaign for Congress.

Maine needs representatives like Emily Cain in Washington to stand up for working people in Lewiston-Auburn, and in Maine.

I hope others will join me in supporting her on June 10.

Richard Wagner, Lewiston