Senator Rick Bennett Announces He Will Seek Re-Election
Bennett to Run for Maine Senate in Western Maine
March 2022
Oxford - Senator Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) has filed nomination papers to run for reelection to the Maine Senate.
A former President of the Maine Senate, Senator Bennett has a long history of public service.
As a successful business innovator, he has led the turn-around of several Maine-based enterprises, including Quoddy, the storied Lewiston-based footwear brand. He is also currently President and CEO of ValueEdge Advisors and serves on the board of GWI, the Maine-based internet provider.
“With the complex and serious issues facing our state right now, we need people at the State House who are willing to collaborate and who want to find solutions that work for Maine people. While I am never shy about speaking out critical matters, my approach is collaborative and solutions-oriented, and will continue to be,” said Senator Bennett.
In the Maine Legislature, Rick has led vigorously on many issues of importance.
Prior to his most recent election to the Senate in 2020, Senator Bennett served two terms in the Maine House (1990-94) and four terms in the Maine Senate (1996-2004). During that time, when the Senate had a partisan tie in terms of number of members from each party. Senator Bennett played a key role in helping ensure that did not mean the chamber lapsed into gridlock; he was unanimously elected as President of the Senate in a unique power-sharing agreement that gave a voice to every member, regardless of party.
A Maine native, Senator Bennett has family roots in Oxford County that go back more than two centuries. He and his wife, Karen, reside in Oxford and they have to grown children, Abby and Nathaniel. Rick is an active member of the First Congregational Church of South Paris and currently leads the Church Council. From 2010 to 2019, he served as a trustee of Hebron Academy. He has also served on the boards of Maine Conservation Voters, Maine Heritage Policy Center, and is a former chair of the Maine Republican Party. Senator Bennett is a graduate of Harvard University (BA) and the University of Southern Maine (MBA).
Due to redistricting, Senator Bennett is running to serve the people of District 18, which includes the Androscoggin County municipalities of Mechanic Falls and Minot; the Cumberland County municipalities of Bridgton and Harrison; and the Oxford County municipalities of Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Hebron, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, Sweden, and Waterford.
Bennett to Run for Maine Senate in Western Maine
March 2022
Oxford - Senator Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) has filed nomination papers to run for reelection to the Maine Senate.
A former President of the Maine Senate, Senator Bennett has a long history of public service.
As a successful business innovator, he has led the turn-around of several Maine-based enterprises, including Quoddy, the storied Lewiston-based footwear brand. He is also currently President and CEO of ValueEdge Advisors and serves on the board of GWI, the Maine-based internet provider.
“With the complex and serious issues facing our state right now, we need people at the State House who are willing to collaborate and who want to find solutions that work for Maine people. While I am never shy about speaking out critical matters, my approach is collaborative and solutions-oriented, and will continue to be,” said Senator Bennett.
In the Maine Legislature, Rick has led vigorously on many issues of importance.
- He was the prime sponsor of the 2021 bill creating the Maine Connectivity Authority, the agency that is investing $250 million to ensure that reliable high-speed broadband is available in every corner of Maine.
- Working across the aisle, Rick cosponsored several laws targeting toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and reforming Maine’s solid waste and recycling practices.
- He has been a leader in stopping the CMP Corridor through western Maine and ending foreign ownership of Maine’s electric utilities and putting control in the hands of ratepayers.
- With strong cross-partisan support, Rick enacted a bill banning foreign government’s meddling in Maine elections. When the measure was vetoed by the Governor, Rick is now chairing a ballot initiative to make the proposal law and reform campaign finance.
- Rick successfully sponsored a bill to put an end to predatory practices by payday lenders.
- Rick is working to build a recreational trail on 28 miles of the unused Mountain Division rail line through western Maine. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Maine University and Community College Center in South Paris in 2002 and the Western Maine Veterans Home in 1993.
- He currently serves as lead Republican on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and as a member of the Government Oversight Committee. He serves as Co-chair of the Legislature’s Children’s Caucus and Co-Chair of the Broadband Caucus.
Prior to his most recent election to the Senate in 2020, Senator Bennett served two terms in the Maine House (1990-94) and four terms in the Maine Senate (1996-2004). During that time, when the Senate had a partisan tie in terms of number of members from each party. Senator Bennett played a key role in helping ensure that did not mean the chamber lapsed into gridlock; he was unanimously elected as President of the Senate in a unique power-sharing agreement that gave a voice to every member, regardless of party.
A Maine native, Senator Bennett has family roots in Oxford County that go back more than two centuries. He and his wife, Karen, reside in Oxford and they have to grown children, Abby and Nathaniel. Rick is an active member of the First Congregational Church of South Paris and currently leads the Church Council. From 2010 to 2019, he served as a trustee of Hebron Academy. He has also served on the boards of Maine Conservation Voters, Maine Heritage Policy Center, and is a former chair of the Maine Republican Party. Senator Bennett is a graduate of Harvard University (BA) and the University of Southern Maine (MBA).
Due to redistricting, Senator Bennett is running to serve the people of District 18, which includes the Androscoggin County municipalities of Mechanic Falls and Minot; the Cumberland County municipalities of Bridgton and Harrison; and the Oxford County municipalities of Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Hebron, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, Sweden, and Waterford.