by Anne Berleant
Castine Patriot
October 4, 2018
Nancy Colwell, Republican
A Deer Isle native who has lived in Surry for over 20 years, Colwell said she decided to make a second run for state representative because “I know the district. I know the struggles, I’ve lived the struggles. To me it’s personal. This is my home, where I raised my kids.”
Registered as an unenrolled voter until six years ago, Colwell enrolled in the Republican party when she became politically active because, at the local level, “you have to have party support,” she said, and, as a Republican, “you’re allowed to have an independent thought.” She considers herself socially moderate and fiscally conservative.
Top issues are high property taxes, and taxes in general, health care costs, and lowering utility costs, she said. Her campaign literature also lists referendum reform, including that petitions “pass a constitutional test;” the opiate crisis, with tougher sentences for drug crimes and better addiction treatment; vocational training opportunities; and support and protection for small businesses, farmers and commercial fishermen.
Colwell “absolutely” believes in compromise in politics.
“I’m not in this for the party, I’m in this for the people of this district,” she said. “I’m willing to change my decisions on the facts put to me. The district may want something different than me, and I will vote the district.”
When speaking with people in her district, Colwell said a top concern she hears is health care costs. “Maine pays higher rates simply because we’re in Maine. Why should we have to pay more?” She advocates being able to purchase health insurance outside of Maine.
“If you opened the market completely, the price would go down. People should not to go the pharmacy and [have to] pick which medication they can afford this week. … Unfortunately, the biggest problems with insurance [are] at the national level.”
Colwell also questions high utility costs, and why Central Maine Power Company customers pay higher rates than Emera. “We really need to look at alternatives that work, not gimmicks. Everything needs to be reviewed.”
As a working parent who “cashed in my 401k to put my daughter in college,” Colwell said she works “paycheck to paycheck like most people in this district. I’m not going in to tax, tax, tax because it’s going to personally affect me. In Augusta, there’s a lot of rich retirees who it’s not going to affect.”
A mother of two children, one a military veteran and one on active duty, Colwell is a Risk Manager at Maine Shellfish Company.
Castine Patriot
October 4, 2018
Nancy Colwell, Republican
A Deer Isle native who has lived in Surry for over 20 years, Colwell said she decided to make a second run for state representative because “I know the district. I know the struggles, I’ve lived the struggles. To me it’s personal. This is my home, where I raised my kids.”
Registered as an unenrolled voter until six years ago, Colwell enrolled in the Republican party when she became politically active because, at the local level, “you have to have party support,” she said, and, as a Republican, “you’re allowed to have an independent thought.” She considers herself socially moderate and fiscally conservative.
Top issues are high property taxes, and taxes in general, health care costs, and lowering utility costs, she said. Her campaign literature also lists referendum reform, including that petitions “pass a constitutional test;” the opiate crisis, with tougher sentences for drug crimes and better addiction treatment; vocational training opportunities; and support and protection for small businesses, farmers and commercial fishermen.
Colwell “absolutely” believes in compromise in politics.
“I’m not in this for the party, I’m in this for the people of this district,” she said. “I’m willing to change my decisions on the facts put to me. The district may want something different than me, and I will vote the district.”
When speaking with people in her district, Colwell said a top concern she hears is health care costs. “Maine pays higher rates simply because we’re in Maine. Why should we have to pay more?” She advocates being able to purchase health insurance outside of Maine.
“If you opened the market completely, the price would go down. People should not to go the pharmacy and [have to] pick which medication they can afford this week. … Unfortunately, the biggest problems with insurance [are] at the national level.”
Colwell also questions high utility costs, and why Central Maine Power Company customers pay higher rates than Emera. “We really need to look at alternatives that work, not gimmicks. Everything needs to be reviewed.”
As a working parent who “cashed in my 401k to put my daughter in college,” Colwell said she works “paycheck to paycheck like most people in this district. I’m not going in to tax, tax, tax because it’s going to personally affect me. In Augusta, there’s a lot of rich retirees who it’s not going to affect.”
A mother of two children, one a military veteran and one on active duty, Colwell is a Risk Manager at Maine Shellfish Company.
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