Two local Democrats — an attorney and a combat veteran — are running to become their party’s nominee for the House District 95 seat in November.

Kiernan Majerus-Collins, 30, an attorney and former Lewiston School Committee member, and Matthew Kershaw, 41, a combat veteran who most recently worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, are seeking the position. The primary is June 9.

The winner will face Republican challenger Bret Martel, a councilor for Lewiston’s Ward 7, who is running unopposed in his party’s primary.

The House District 95 seat is being vacated by Rep. Mana Abdi. After serving two terms in the Legislature, Abdi is vying for the Maine Senate District 21 seat. She faces fellow Democratic challenger Shanna Cox on June 9. The winner will face independent Eryn Soule in the November general election.

Majerus-Collins has a relatively short political history, but cites many accomplishments he feels qualifies him to represent Lewiston.

As a school committee member, he says he ushered in a ban on the expulsion of elementary school students, got Jewish and Muslim holidays added to Lewiston’s school calendar, succeeded in getting the replacement of a school resource officer with a restorative justice coordinator, and supported higher pay for teachers and staff.

“Additionally, I am best positioned to carry on the important work of incumbent Rep. Mana Abdi, the first Somali-American member of the Maine legislature,” Majerus-Collins said in a written response to questions. “I moved to Lewiston as a teenager. Now, as an immigration and civil rights lawyer, I work with Lewiston’s immigrant community every day to defend them from attacks by the federal government and the far right.”

Kershaw said he has no prior political experience, but believes that is a strength of his at the current political moment.

“Normally I’d lay out a series of policy and issue priorities, which I do have, but I think my best qualification is … (that) as a combat vet, I don’t flinch, and I’m not going to back down,” Kershaw said in written responses to questions. “What legislators need at this particular moment is two open eyes and a backbone, and I have both of those things.”

Lewiston is a city with a prosperous past, Kershaw said, but even as it is set on a good trajectory, local leaders need to continue the hard work of growing the local economy, protecting the city’s most vulnerable communities and expanding opportunities for the next generations. 

“I plan to approach this … by facing both directions,” Kershaw said. “First, I intend on keeping a constant dialog open with community organizations and businesses so we can be sure we’re identifying the most urgent needs representing their priorities. … Second, I hope to work with a strong majority to pass a statewide economic plan to widen the channels of opportunity for small and local businesses across the state, and in Lewiston.”

Majerus-Collins cites a cost-of-living crisis as a top issue critical to Lewiston’s future, necessitating a focus on energy and housing.  

“The cost-of-living crisis … has only worsened since Trump started an illegal and immoral war with Iran … (showing) us how dangerous and unstable relying so heavily on foreign energy sources is,” Majerus-Collins said. “Maine needs to produce more clean energy to address … climate change, and we need a long-term moratorium on AI data centers.”

Regarding housing, Majerus-Collins said, counties and cities must receive more aid to keep property taxes down and streamline processes for building new types of housing. 

He said he is best positioned to work on those priorities for Lewiston’s House District 95, with a Bates College and Boston University of Law education, having clerked for a federal appellate court judge and having served on Lewiston’s school committee without missing a vote.

“(I learned) a great deal about what the law is and ought to be — knowledge essential to my service as a state lawmaker,” Majerus-Collins said. “I also know the most important thing an elected official can do is show up.”

“I am a fearless progressive. When the going gets tough, and the far-right summons its money and power to attack the most vulnerable people in our community, I don’t flinch and I don’t stay on the sidelines,” he said.

Kershaw didn’t list a top issue critical to Lewiston’s future, but said he is no stranger to hard work and struggle. His family includes a great-grandmother who was illiterate and a grandfather who went to college on the GI bill and worked his way up to becoming a school superintendent.

A U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, Kershaw has worked construction jobs for years and has owned a small remodeling business. He’s been a teacher and long-haul truck dispatcher, and has held several smaller jobs throughout his life.

“A big part of my story is a strong belief in public service and the knowledge that a little bit of help and opportunity can change everything in a generation,” Kershaw said. “Organizing and extending those opportunities to working people will be my focus in the legislature. … I’m not rich. I know what it means to struggle to get by. Most importantly, I’m a quick learner, and a hard worker, and I’ve got your back.”