I am honored to serve as the State Representative for District No. 121 in the Maine House and am a member of the Judiciary Committee. I also was elected to serve on the Cape Elizabeth Town Council, where I am Chairman of the Ordinance Committee.

Marital status: married to Tom Clarke, a math teacher at Thornton Academy. We just celebrated our 18^th anniversary. 

Children: two terrific children, Harrison Clarke (13) and Isabel Clarke (11).  Both kids attend school at Cape Elizabeth Middle School.

Education:

I graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in 1987 (double major in English and Philosophy) and then graduated from Northeastern University School of Law with a J.D. degree in 1990.Organizations and acitivties:

Maine State Bar Association Board Member, Cleaves Law Library Maine Employment Lawyers Association, Maine Farmland Trust, Portland Museum of Art, Y.M.C.A., UCC First Congregational Church, South Portland.

Top three issues (in order of priority):

1.Maine Economy:   We need to invest in higher education and research and technology in order to foster economic growth and create jobs. 

2.Energy:  Maine is the most forest-dense state in the country, and the eleventh windiest state, however 80 percent of our homes use oil for heat. We need to continue to implement renewable energy policies, encourage conservation and minimize carbon emissions.

3.Health Care: Access to quality and affordable healthcare is a top priority of mine because it’s morally the right thing, and it is a crucial element of a strong economy.

Why are you seeking elected office?

If re-elected I will be vigilant in protecting our natural resources and quality of place while simultaneously adapting to a fast-changing culture and global economy.

I am a moderate who works across party lines to find consensus and get things done. My bi-partisan work record in the 123^rd Legislature includes passage of an amendment that successfully exempted Cape Elizabeth and other high performing and efficient schools from potentially damaging mandatory school consolidation. Another example was my role on the Judiciary Committee in amending the Maine Human Rights Act to clarify the law to satisfy both disabled employees and businesses. I also supported legislation that cut state spending by nearly $150 million, and as a result Maine is spending less in FY 09 than we did in FY 08. I supported laws that reduced Health and Human Service spending by $65 million, while rejecting proposals to cut health care and prescriptive drug coverage for the poorest Maine families.  Additionally I supported legislation that entered Maine into the Northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in ten northeastern states by 10 percent in the next 12 years. 

If re-elected I will continue to work on creating the opportunity for Maine to lease excess broadband spectrum to private companies in order to generate much needed revenue for our state. I also will continue to fight for comprehensive tax reform.