 |
| Barbara Bagshaw of Windham is running for the Maine House District 24 seat as a Republican and will oppose former State Rep. Tom Tyler in a June primary for the nomination. District 24 Democrat incumbent Mark Bryant is term limited and the fall election will determine who will succeed him representing Windham in Augusta. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Barbara Bagshaw may
be somewhat new to politics, but she’s hoping that voters view that as an asset
when determining who to support for the Maine House District 24 Republican
primary race this year.
Bagshaw, who was a first-time candidate last fall for a seat on the RSU 14 Board of Directors, is a former educator who led a non-profit arts organization for 10 years as president. She’s lived in Windham for more than 35 years and says that she wants to give back to her community through service as state representative.
“I am
running because I am very motivated and inspired to do the hard work to
represent the people of Windham,” Bagshaw said. “I know I will make myself
available to the needs of the people in order to help and assist in any manner
this office would allow. I am doing this to better my community, not just to hold
a position.”
In
June’s primary, Bagshaw will oppose former State Representative Tom Tyler for
the Republican nomination for the November election to succeed current District
24 State Rep. Mark Bryant, a Democrat, who is term limited.
“My
strengths are in networking and problem solving. Serving people is the
heart of what I do,” Bagshaw said. “I believe people who vote for me
need to know this. I want to find out what the people in my district
are concerned about. I would love to get them involved in being part of
the change they would like to see.”
She
said that over the past couple of years, she’s reached out to local, state and
federal government officials and many of them sent her back a canned response, suggesting
that she contact someone higher up whom she had already reached out to or blamed
another political party for the issue or didn’t even respond to her at all.
“These
are good examples of what not to do,” Bagshaw said. “I prefer the human
touch with a timely honest response.”
According
to Bagshaw, she’s running as a Republican because she strongly believes in
supporting small businesses, parents’ rights, and supports providing an effective
education for children to achieve the brightest future available to them.
If
elected to serve as a state representative, Bagshaw said she will do what is
needed to build a consensus on behalf of all Maine residents.
“Respect,
honor and dignity are attributes I live by. I have many friends who
are Democrats,” Bagshaw said. “We honor and respect each other’s differences.
We work together beautifully. My friends may have a strength where I may have a
weakness and vice versa. I don’t think everything needs to be divisive. We all
bring a lot to the table.”
Knowing
that Augusta is all about politics, Bagshaw said her skills working in the
community will help her there.
“I’m a
networker and enjoy working with different people,” she said. “I’m confident
that I’ll figure it out to get things done. I want to serve the people and I’ll
figure out how to do it. As a consensus builder, I know that our differences
make us special. We need to have respect for each other.”
Her
life’s passion has been about
serving the community and she says that was inspired from watching her mother
help others as a school board member in Gorham.
“I
have traveled to 24 countries as an international speaker, volunteer in
orphanages and done relief work,” Bagshaw said. “Commitment
and follow-through are extremely important to me.”
She
said she decided to run for the Maine District 24 House seat because she’s
deeply concerned about the economy, education and the rule of law.
Her legislative focus if she’s elected will be improving the educational
system in the state.
“We have a lot of very talented teachers, and they need to be
supported,” Bagshaw said. “Everybody needs to work together. We do need more
collaboration with parents and families though. We need to learn what their
concerns are and have a deeper level of communication with them.”
Being
new to running for elected office, Bagshaw says she places working for
residents of the community above all else and pledges to do just that if voters
elect her to serve as District 24 state representative.
