Dear Editor:

This is the sort of woman we want representing District 48.

I had the privilege of driving Rep. Holly Stover as she knocked on doors in South Bristol during Pumpkinfest Weekend. We found lots of people at home – Democrat, Unenrolled, and Republican voters – all of them welcomed her as we traveled down winding, wooded drives to houses large and small. 

About halfway through our four-hour session, Holly was engaged in an extended conversation with a couple who often vote Republican when both of her phones began to buzz and buzz and buzz some more as I sat in the cab of my pickup truck. She climbed back into her seat and I let her know someone, a couple of someones, had been trying hard to contact her. 

And this is where our afternoon of campaigning together ended. 

Because in her follow-up phone calls, she was told that there had been an emergency in Boothbay, and her help was needed to connect community members in crisis with the services and support they needed. She assured her contact, “I can be there in 40 minutes.”

She then turned to me and said, “Sorry, Geoff. I need to go. Now.”

She could have kept on campaigning. But Rep. Holly Stover is not just our representative in Augusta. With her work on the Community Resource Council and Lincoln County Dental, her service extends deeply into the fabric of our County. Maybe she could have found someone else to help out. But not Holly. We said our goodbyes and she was off. 

We need Holly, and frankly more folks like Holly, in Augusta … people who care deeply about their constituents – the people for whom she and all legislators are working. Her actions that afternoon made it quite apparent that Holly understands that it’s people, not politics or profits – or even re-election, for that matter – that should come first in state government. 

Please join me in voting for Holly Stover for State Representative of District 48.

Geoff Bates

South Bristol