LETTERS: Thanks to supporters

To the editor:

I’m writing to thank The Town Line and area residents, especially those in China, Windsor, Palermo, and Winslow where I focused my signature gathering efforts for my recent gubernatorial campaign. I especially thank folks who graciously signed my petition and those who invited me into their homes to chat. Meeting and talking with folks, especially those whom I have never met, is the best part of campaigning.

Unfortunately, I was never able to get the volunteer support necessary to collect the required minimum 2,000 signatures. I don’t consider my campaign a failure since my goal was simply to do my best. I did not run to win. I ran to give the people of Maine hope, to give them a choice, and to promote democracy. I believe I achieved all three.

I learned in 2018 when I ran for the Maine Senate that going up against the Democratic Party machine would not be easy. This time around, the Democratic Party violated its own charter by endorsing Gov. [Janet] Mills, in October, eight months before a June primary. The party never made a single mention of my name as a candidate in all of its internal emails to members, yet touted Gov. Mills many times.

At party sponsored petition signing events, my partner and I were often treated as if we were invisible, or as if we had a communicable disease. When I made a day long trip to collect signatures in Aroostook County, the Democratic County Committee chair refused to announce to members or the public that I would be there. While the majority of regular folks I met going door to door were glad to sign my petition, only a small fraction of so-called party loyalists would sign. This was evidence to me that the Democratic Party machine is very out of touch with voters and was very afraid of a primary challenger.

Maine’s government and the two party system are disintegrating before our eyes. My attempt to promote democracy was met with resistance from both the “democratic” party and the mainstream press. The people of Maine and across the nation are feeling disenfranchised because they are disenfranchised by a “system” that puts itself and the special interests before them. I am not a politician. My goal was and is to shift the paradigm away from a government of, by, and for politics and money to a government of, by, and for the people.

I shudder to think of how many Maine children will die of abuse or neglect, of how many thousands of people will die of drug overdoses or will suffer untreated mental illness over the next four years regardless of who is elected governor, because of a government that cares more for itself than for the people. Instead of bribing Maine voters with our money, Gov. Mills should ask us how we want it spent. My vote is to use it to reform Maine government, to create a child welfare system that is the best in the nation, and to help the hundreds of thousands of Maine people who are hurting and in genuine need.

John M. Glowa, Sr.
China