John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and in the Maine Senate from 1982 to 1994.
During his tenure as governor, Baldacci initiated reforms in the areas of health care, energy development, administrative reform and efficiency, public education, and led significant efforts to expand investment in workforce training and development. During his four terms in the U.S. Congress, he served on the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He served previously as Vice-Chair and currently as Chair Emeritus of the board of the non-partisan Northeast-Midwest Institute, a Washington-based, private, nonprofit, and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states.
Early life and political career
Born in Bangor, Maine, on January 30, 1955, Baldacci grew up with seven siblings in a Roman Catholic family of Italian and Lebanese ancestry. As a child, he worked in the family business, Momma Baldacci's restaurant in Bangor. A 1973 graduate of Bangor High School, he received a B.A. degree in history from the University of Maine at Orono in 1986.
Baldacci was first elected to public office in 1978 at the age of 23, when he served on the Bangor City Council. He continued in politics, winning election to the Maine Senate in 1982 from a Bangor-area district. He was reelected two times, serving a total of 12 years.
United States House of Representatives
In 1994, following the retirement of his cousin, United States Senator George J. Mitchell, Baldacci won election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's Second District, replacing Olympia Snowe, who had moved on to Mitchell's open Senate seat. He defeated fellow state senator Rick Bennett in one of the few Democratic pickups of the 1994 cycle, taking 47 percent to Bennett's 41 percent.
Baldacci would never face another contest nearly that close, and was reelected to Congress three times with well over 70 percent of the vote. He served on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Transportation Committee.
A Democrat, Baldacci was first elected in the 2002 gubernatorial election in Maine with 47.2% of the vote. He defeated Republican nominee Peter Cianchette, who garnered 41.5% of the vote, Green Independent nominee Jonathan Carter, who received 9%, and unenrolled former Democrat John Michael, who received 2%. Baldacci was sworn in as Maine's governor on January 8, 2003. In 2006, Baldacci won re-election from a field of four major candidates. As governor, he was a member of the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association.
After being elected, Baldacci attempted to fill a $1.2-billion deficit. This was done through budget cuts, consolidation, and fee increases. Baldacci refused to raise broad-based taxes, honoring a campaign pledge. Baldacci won approval for major initiatives including Dirigo Health, the Maine Community College System, and Pine Tree Development Zones (PTDZ).
Pine Tree Development Zones were enacted in 2004 and offered eligible businesses the chance to greatly reduce or virtually eliminate state taxes for up to ten years when they create new, quality jobs in certain business sectors or move existing jobs in those sectors to Maine. However, a report released in 2014 showed that the PTDZ program was ineffective, costing state government more than it brought in. Over the first ten years of the program, it cost Maine $457 million.
Baldacci's overhaul of the healthcare system was established with his Dirigo Health Care Act. The program offers subsidised health care to individuals and Maine businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The program expanded wellness centers across the state. Individuals in the system enjoy preventive care when most other insurance policies rejected people with pre-existing conditions. Proponents claim that the preventive care eventually lowers health care costs.
With the Maine Community College System he took technical colleges and revamped them into community colleges by adding more courses, more teachers and programs relevant to the communities in which they were established. He passed legislation that made it possible for credits and degrees from the community colleges to be transferable to the University of Maine System if student wished to pursue a four-year degree. The community college system grew exponentially adding new satellites. In their first three years, Maine's community colleges grew 42 percent. The demand is so great there are wait lists for admission.
In 2005, Baldacci introduced legislation to expand Maine's civil rights law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and on gender identity. This legislation in Maine had been defeated via referendum by voters two times before. The law passed, but opponents of the law initiated a referendum to overturn the law. Voters upheld the new law.
Baldacci is a supporter of regionalization, a sometimes contentious policy of merging services of local governments to save money on administrative costs.
Baldacci ran for reelection in 2006, facing opposition from Republican state Senator Chandler Woodcock, Independents Barbara Merrill and Phillip Napier, and Green Independent Party candidate Pat LaMarche.
Democratic-leaning voters had a wide array of choices. Merrill, who was elected to her state house seat as a Democrat, Woodcock, and LaMarche received money from Maine's Clean Elections law. Merrill and LaMarche were generally seen as taking votes from Baldacci, while Woodcock's socially conservative position prompted some longtime Republicans to throw their votes to Baldacci, Merrill, or LaMarche.
Baldacci won the election with 38.11% of the vote. Woodcock placed second with 30%. Merrill received a surprising 21%, narrowly defeating Baldacci among unenrolled voters. LaMarche finished with 10%, enough to maintain ballot access for the Green Party.