Shawn Levasseur
Shawn Levasseur, the current Maine LP treasurer and former state party chair, is running in a special election for the state legislature next Tuesday.
He is running for the state House of Representatives 93rd district seat, which was vacated by former officeholder Elizabeth Dickerson.
Shawn is also on the Knox County Budget Committee, to which he was elected in 2013.
Levasseur wants to fight two prospective tax hikes being proposed by the Governor, one an increase in the sales tax, another a tax on non-profits.
By running for the office, he also wants to bring attention to the Maine Libertarian Party for its efforts to become a recognized party, and to encourage others to run for office.
“Third party candidates in Maine do get media attention and invited to debates, and I want to use the exposure to get more Libertarians to run for office”, said Levasseur.
The ballot access laws in Maine were changed for the better last year. Before, a party had to collect signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast in the most recent general election, which in 2012 was more than 29,000. Candidates could also petition individually to run for office, and if a gubernatorial or presidential candidate received 5%, the party was on the ballot.
Now, if a party registers 5,000 voters, it becomes a recognized party. The Maine LP is currently working on registering 5,000 voters, and has until December to complete the effort.
There will be four candidates on the ballot, including candidates from the Republican, Democrat, and Green Independent parties, as well as Levasseur.
