A small sample of items people may not know about Lois Snowe-Mello’s record: she’s the only senator to vote 100 percent with her party.

A recent Sun Journal article discussed if plagiarism or dishonesty describes claiming as one’s own, political pieces written by others. Some of her fellow Republicans stated it’s standard practice. Is this a good model for high school children? In 2000, it was reported Snowe-Mello had published, under her name, an identical article to one written by Rep. Tom Shields.

It was also reported Snowe-Mello was a prime supporter of failed LD 1443, which would have made adultery a crime punishable by year in jail and a $2000 fine – an example of government intervention in the bedroom, an assault on the privacy of the home. Snowe-Mello said, “I couldn’t care less.” What about the resulting trauma and deprivation of the children, with added expense to the state for welfare and imprisonment cost?

She has voted to permit handgun sales to 16-year-olds and men under restraining order.

In 2004, while on the Natural Resources Committee, she received an environmental “zero” from the Maine League of Conservation Voters.

She voted against property tax rebates for elderly, has opposed increases in the minimum wage, and opposed LD 1845, Increased Access to Health Insurance.

She has also claimed there’s a huge out-of-state influx to Maine pursuing cushy welfare benefits, although the number of monthly recipients has been steady for years.

James M. Cogan, Auburn