A large and energetic crowd turned out on a cold night at the Newcastle Community Center Jan. 24 for the Lincoln County Republican Committee (LCRC) monthly meeting and for the chance to meet Eric Brakey, candidate for Senate, and to hear from our Republican legislators in Augusta.

Before hearing from the candidates, Chairman Richard Mayer asked for a moment of silence for Earl Inman, a close friend, past LCRC chair and Bristol Town Committee Chair. Earl was a Republican stalwart in Lincoln County who will be dearly missed.

Sen. Brakey who is running to unseat Senator Angus King spoke about the challenge of facing an entrenched politician such as King who “sells himself as an Independent, but is really a Democrat.” Brakey recounted his experiences as a young candidate for Senate District 20 where he successfully unseated an older and entrenched incumbent. Saying he’s heard some of the same stories again as he runs against a lifelong politician like King, he drew applause from the group when he compared his campaign against King to David and Goliath. Brakey said, “When the Israelites saw Goliath, they all said look how big he is. When David saw how big he was, he said, I can’t miss.” Saying his campaign was “all about liberty for the little guy and standing up for their rights”, Brakey asked for support in his battle, and promised that he would fight to restore the balance of power from the Federal government to the State, the way the Founders laid it out in our Constitution.

Senator Dow discussed problems facing the legislature, foremost of which is how to pay for Medicaid expansion passed by referendum in November. Rep. Sanderson echoed Dows concerns and said the full impact is just being felt inside the State House. With $40M needed for those on the waiting list and $20M for direct care workers, the legislature will have to cut somewhere else to pay for the expansion. Rep Hanley encouraged Republicans and Bradstreet agreed. The impact of the Ranked Choice Committee’s referendum for a citizen’s veto and the petition for Universal In-Home Health Care were brought up as other examples which threaten the financial stability that Governor LePage has fought so hard to achieve during his tenure.

Michael Lemelin, running to fill the HD 88 seat being vacated by Rep. Sanderson, was warmly welcomed by the audience and briefly told his story as owner of 2 businesses, husband to Dr. Kelley Lemelin, pilot, and father of three including one child with special needs.

Fran Needham was elected to fill the vacant position of LCRC Finance Chair. An artist with years of experience in the arts, business, and health care fields, Fran currently operates a local gallery and has been active in the committee and the community for some time.

The LCRC meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month and all interested Republicans are welcome. For more information, please contact Dick Mayer, chairman of the LCRC, or email nrtclcrc@gmail.com.