Maine House of Representatives | |
---|---|
Maine State Legislature | |
Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | 4 Terms (8 years) |
History | |
New session started | December 7, 2022 |
Leadership | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Structure | |
Seats | 151 (and 3 non-voting) |
Political groups | Majority Minority Other Vacant |
Length of term | 2 years |
Authority | Article IV, Part First, Maine Constitution |
Salary | Session 1: $13,526/year Session 2: $9,661/year + per diem |
Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 (151 seats) |
Next election | November 5, 2024 (151 seats) |
Redistricting | Legislative Control |
Meeting place | |
House of Representatives Chamber Maine State House Augusta, Maine | |
Website | |
Maine House of Representatives |
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via plurality voting. The nonvoting members represent three of Maine's Native American tribes, though two tribes have declined to send representatives. Each voting member of the House represents around 9,000 citizens of the state. Because it is a part-time position, members of the Maine House of Representatives usually have outside employment as well. Members are limited to four consecutive terms of two years each, but may run again after two years.
The House meets at the Maine State House in Augusta.
The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber.
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Republican | Green Ind. | Independ. | Nonpart. | Vacant | ||
Begin 126th Legislature (Dec. 2012) | 89 | 58 | 0 | 4 | 151 | 0 | |
End 126th Legislature | 57 | 150 | 1 | ||||
Begin 127th Legislature (Dec. 2014) | 79 | 68 | 0 | 4 | 151 | 0 | |
End 127th Legislature | 78 | 69 | |||||
Begin 128th Legislature (Dec. 2016) | 77 | 72 | 0 | 2 | 151 | 0 | |
End 128th Legislature | 73 | 70 | 1 | 6 | 150 | 1 | |
Begin 129th Legislature (Dec. 2018) [c] | 89 | 57 | 0 | 5 | 151 | 0 | |
End 129th Legislature | 87 | 56 | 6 | 149 | 2 | ||
Begin 130th Legislature (Dec. 2020) | 80 | 67 | 0 | 4 | 151 | 0 | |
End 130th Legislature | 76 | 63 | 3 | 142 | 9 | ||
Begin 131st Legislature (Dec. 2022) | 82 | 67 | 0 | 2 | 151 | 0 | |
February 16, 2023 [d] | 81 | 150 | 1 | ||||
June 14, 2023 [e] | 68 | 151 | 0 | ||||
July 14, 2023 [f] | 80 | 150 | 1 | ||||
October 30, 2023 [g] | 79 | 149 | 2 | ||||
November 9, 2023 [h] | 80 | 150 | 1 | ||||
March 6, 2024 [i] | 81 | 151 | 0 | ||||
April 1, 2024 [j] | 80 | 150 | 1 | ||||
May 5, 2024 [k] | 79 | 149 | 2 | ||||
June 12, 2024 [l] | 67 | 148 | 3 | ||||
Latest voting share | 53.4% | 45.3% | 0% | 1.4% | |||
Non-voting members | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The three nonvoting members within the House represent the Wabanaki or Dawnland nations of the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy, and the Maliseet. The special Representatives can sponsor legislation relating specifically to the Tribes or in relation to Tribal - State land claims, as well as co-sponsor any other legislation brought before the House, but do not cast a legislative vote due to their unique tribal status representing their tribal members only. The Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Maliseet tribal representatives are also entitled to sit as members of joint standing committees during hearings and deliberations, where they do cast votes, which can be very important with respect to specific legislative proposals.
Starting with the second session of the 125th Legislature, the Houlton Band of Maliseets was given a legislative seat in the House of Representatives. The first elected occupant of the seat was Henry John Bear. After being sworn in by Governor Paul LePage, Bear stated he would introduce legislation to give the Micmac people of Maine a nonvoting seat. [1]
The Passamaquoddy and Penobscots announced at a State House rally on May 26, 2015, that they would withdraw their representatives from the Legislature, citing disputes over tribal fishing rights, jurisdictional issues, and a lack of respect for tribal sovereignty. They further cited an executive order by Governor Paul LePage that rescinded a prior order requiring consultation with the tribes on state issues that affected them as a reason for their decision. Subsequently, Matthew Dana II of the Passamaquoddy and Wayne Mitchell of the Penobscot left the legislature leaving Henry John Bear of the Maliseet the only non-voting tribal representative. In response, Speaker Eves said that the tribal representatives are always welcome in the House. Matthew Dana II returned to the House from the Passamaquoddy Tribe in the 2016 elections. [2]
The Maliseets chose not to send a Representative to the 129th Legislature, elected in 2018. As of December 2022, the Maliseets and the Penobscots haven't returned to the House, leaving just the Passamaquoddy Representative, presently Aaron Dana. [3]
Due to the independent political tradition in the state, the Maine House of Representatives has been an entry ground for several of the state's prominent Independent politicians. From 2002 to 2006, Representative John Eder of Portland (District 118), belonging to the Maine Green Independent Party, served in the Legislature, the highest elected Green politician in U.S. politics at that time. Eder secured recognition as a one-member Green Party caucus in the House, receiving a dedicated staff person, which is unusual for individual legislators in the Maine House. In the 2006 elections, Eder lost his seat to a Democratic challenger.
On September 21, 2017, Ralph Chapman, previously registered as an independent, switched his registration to the Maine Green Independent Party, the first time in over a decade that the Maine Green Independent Party was represented at the state level. [4]
Position | Representative [5] | Party | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|
Speaker of the House | Rachel Talbot Ross | Democratic | Portland |
Majority Leader | Maureen Terry | Democratic | Gorham |
Assistant Majority Leader/Whip | Kristen Cloutier | Democratic | Lewiston |
Minority Leader | Billy Bob Faulkingham | Republican | Winter Harbor |
Assistant Minority Leader/Whip | Amy Arata | Republican | New Gloucester |
Districts are currently numbered starting with 1 from north to south. This is often reversed after each decennial redistricting, and it was reversed in the redistricting which occurred in 2021 and which went into effect beginning with the 2022 primary and general elections. The previous district lines, which were drawn in 2013 and were first used in the 2014 primary and general elections, were only in effect for 8 years rather than the usual 10 as Maine adjusted its legislative redistricting cycle to conform with most other states.
↑ denotes that the Representative first won in a special election
Representing | Representative | Party | Residence | First elected | Term-limited |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Passamaquoddy Tribe | Aaron M. Dana | Nptsn | Princeton | 2022 | ? |
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians | Vacant | ||||
Penobscot Nation | Vacant |
↑ Member was first elected in a special election
The Penobscot are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
The Passamaquoddy are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatikuk, straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine in a region called Dawnland. They are one of the constituent nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
The Maine State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The legislature convenes at the State House in Augusta, where it has met since 1832.
In government, several constitutional arrangements use reserved political positions, especially when endeavoring to ensure the rights of women, minorities or other segments of society, or preserving a political balance of power.
The Wolastoqiyik, also Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite or Maliseet are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston, the state capital of Massachusetts.
Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, who do not have a right to vote on legislation in the full House but nevertheless have floor privileges and are able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-voting members may introduce legislation. Non-voting members may vote in a House committee of which they are a member.
James Bernard Longley Sr. was an American politician. He served as the 69th Governor of Maine from 1975 to 1979, and was the first Independent to hold the office. In 1949, he married the former Helen Angela Walsh, who died on September 13, 2005. They had five children, including former Republican U.S. Representative James B. Longley Jr..
The Maine Green Independent Party is a state-level political party affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is the oldest state green party in the United States. It was founded following an informal meeting of 17 environmental advocates, including Bowdoin College professor John Rensenbrink and others in Augusta, Maine in January 1984. From 1994 to 2006, the party's gubernatorial nominees received between 6% and 10% of the vote.
Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, 528 F.2d 370, was a landmark decision regarding aboriginal title in the United States. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the Nonintercourse Act applied to the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot, non-federally-recognized Indian tribes, and established a trust relationship between those tribes and the federal government that the State of Maine could not terminate.
David Slagger is a Maliseet politician in Maine. Slagger served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives, representing the newly recognized Maliseet Tribe. Slagger was sworn-in as the appointed representative to the House of Representatives on January 4, 2012. He held the seat temporarily until a tribal election could be conducted to elect a Maliseet Tribal Representative, which the Maliseet Tribe then did on December 22, 2012 when tribal members elected Henry John Bear as their first elected Tribal Representative to the Maine House of Representatives. Slagger did not seek another term as Maliseet representative.
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine (HBMI) is a federally recognized tribe of Maliseet, whose land is along the Meduxnekeag River in Maine, United States. They are headquartered in Littleton, Maine, located in Aroostook County.
Henry John Bear is a Maliseet politician from Maine. In January 2013, he was sworn in as the first elected member of the Maine House of Representatives representing the Maliseet people. He replaced David Slagger, who was appointed to the Maine House.
The 2018 Maine House of Representatives elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Maine voters elected state representatives in all 151 of the state house's districts, as well as non-voting members from the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. State representatives serve two-year terms in the Maine State House.
Sean Paulhus is an American politician from the state of Maine. He is a former member of the Maine House of Representatives representing District 50. Prior to redistricting he represented District 52. He is a member of the Maine Democratic Party.
Maulian Bryant is a Penobscot activist and political figure. A former member of the Penobscot Nation Tribal Council, she was appointed the Penobscot Nation's first tribal ambassador in 2017 and continued in that role until 2024. In September of that year, she accepted a position as executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, representing the four Indigenous Nations in Maine.
Rena D. Newell is a Passamaquoddy politician who is serving as the incumbent chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Previously, she was the Passamaquoddy tribal representative to the Maine House of Representatives during the 129th and 130th legislatures. During her two terms, she was the only tribal representative in the Maine House.
The 2020 Maine House of Representatives elections took place on November 3, 2020, alongside the biennial United States elections. Maine voters elected members of the Maine House of Representatives via plurality voting in all 151 of the state house's districts, as well as a non-voting member from the Passamaquoddy Tribe.
Heidi Hilgartner Sampson is an American politician and anti-vaccine activist. A member of the Republican Party, she has served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives since 2016, representing the 136th district since 2022.
The Cherokee delegate to the United States House of Representatives is an office established via the Treaty of New Echota in 1835. The office was intended to represent the Cherokee people and was instrumental in negotiations of land transfer and sovereignty in the Treaty. The office went vacant until 2019, with the appointment of Kimberly Teehee of the Cherokee Nation. Teehee and tribal leadership attempted to get her seated in the 116th and 117th United States Congresses. In 2021, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians designated their own delegate, lawyer Victoria Holland.