Party affiliation: Democrat

Date of birth: July 29, 1944

Hometown: Lewiston

Occupation: Program administrator, John F. Murphy Homes, Inc.

Education: Lewiston High School; USM; master’s in adult education, USM

Community organizations: Member, Lewiston Public Library Board of Directors; member, Healthy Androscoggin Board of Directors; member, Community Concepts Board of Directors

Personal information (hobbies, etc.): Likes to run, be healthy, play with grandchild, read, hike, visit with friends.

Family status: Married, two children; one grandchild

Years in the Legislature: Four

Clean Election candidate?: Yes

Committee assignments: Health and Human Services, Appropriations

1. I have a strong instinct to serve my community, and this is one way I get to have an impact on what happens to services for senior citizens, people who are disabled, have an impact on education funding, and the well-being of the people in my district.

2. I want to help change the constitutional measure regarding property tax re-assessment. I am committed to work hard to make sure seniors get assistance with their medications, in the face of the Part D Medicare mess. I will also work to keep funding to higher education, the disabled, and seniors.

3. TABOR is the most destructive initive that has come down the pike. It is bad for business, bad for education, and bad for any kind of responce to emergencies that the state may encounter. I hope people don’t think the federal goverment is going to help. Remember Louisina?

4. This is America! I think everybody should be safe and free. Regarding a woman’s right to choose, abortion is not the way to go. We need to make pro-active care available to women. However, I will not be party to blaming, or foisting my belief system on others.

5. Dirigo is a two-year-old product that is in a development process. It will take some tweaking to have it work in the way it was meant to be. Dirigo has withstood assaults in the courts, administrative proceedings, and the Legislature, and it has saved Maine people over $74 million in two years. It is working. The national average rate of uninsured is 15.7 percent; in Maine it’s 10.4.