OPINION | Candidate says voters deserve a state senator who is accountable

Jason Litalien — a Biddeford attorney running for the Maine Senate District 32 seat — says his incumbent opponent has failed on a number of fronts and should be replaced in November

By JASON LITALIEN | Dist. 32 Maine State Senate Candidate

I grew up in Biddeford. I graduated from Biddeford High School, served 13 years in the Air Force, earned a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law, and built a small practice helping families with homes, estates, probate, and businesses. My wife, Kristen, and I live here, just miles from where I grew up.

I am running as an Independent for Senate District 32 because families in Biddeford, Dayton, Hollis, Lyman, and Arundel are paying more and getting less. Taxes keep climbing. Schools spend more and produce weaker results. And DHHS keeps failing basic tests of competence and honesty.

**JASON LITALIEN** of Biddeford | *Courtesy photo provided by the candidate*

My opponent, Henry [Ingwersen], is a retired public-school teacher. When he arrived in Augusta in 2018, Maine ranked 19th for education on the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT index.

In 2025, Maine finished 41st. About 74 percent of fourth graders were not proficient in reading. About 75 percent of eighth graders were not proficient in math. On the Nation’s Report Card, fourth grade reading and math proficiency fell about 10 points from 2019 to 2024 — among the steepest drops in the country.

Maine did not get there by refusing to spend.

U.S. Census figures for fiscal year 2024 put Maine at about $19,962 per pupil, well above the $17,619 national average. Premium prices. Bottom-tier results. A retired teacher who started on the education committee should be the last person comfortable with those results.

In December 2024, Henry became chair of Health and Human Services. Oversight is not a press release about MaineCare. It is demanding independent audits and refusing to look away when children die and contractors bill for services they cannot document.

In 2021, four children whose families were already known to child protective services died within weeks of one another: three-year-old Hailey Goding, three-year-old Maddox Williams, six-week-old Jaden Harding, and one-month-old Sylus Melvin.

Where are the audits? Why is Henry not holding people responsible? He has the power to call for investigations. He has not.

The failures did not stop. In November 2024, federal auditors found Maine’s child-protective office had departed from its own policies in 94 of 100 sampled investigations.

In January 2026, the federal inspector general estimated Maine made at least $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments for services billed for children with autism — and recommended a $28.7 million refund to Washington. That is just one program in just one year. How much more is there? Why hasn’t Henry audited these programs?

“I will not vote for
last-minute tax-and-spend
bills dressed up as relief”

This spring, the Legislature passed a $519 million supplemental budget with a new 2 percent surtax on income over $1 million and $300 “affordability checks.”

Henry said he was proud of it. He also voted for the state budget that added a 5.5 percent sales tax on streaming services, raised the cigarette tax by $1.50 a pack, and increased the recreational cannabis sales tax from 10 percent to 14 percent. Then in the next breath he will tell you he is helping working Mainers.

I am an attorney and a small-business owner. When an agency cannot produce the paper that justifies the invoice, you do not send more money. You audit. You recover what was misspent. You remove the people who refused to look.

If you want higher taxes, underperforming schools with one of the higher per-student costs in the country, contractors billing taxpayers with weak oversight, and a child-welfare system that has already buried children it was supposed to protect — stay with Henry. If you want those problems stopped, vote for me.

I will not vote for last-minute tax-and-spend bills dressed up as relief. I will fight to audit waste at DHHS. I will measure schools by reading, writing, math, and career skills — not by how much Augusta appropriated. Common sense. Lower taxes. Real oversight.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR | Jason Litalien of Biddeford is running as an unenrolled, independent candidate in the Maine State Senate Dist. 32 race, which includes Biddeford, Arundel, Dayton, Lyman and Hollis.

NOTE | The Biddeford Gazette has offered each local legislative candidate the opportunity to submit two columns between now and Election Day, Nov. 3. These will be published in the order they are received.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Biddeford Gazette, its staff, affiliates or sponsors. We encourage robust and diverse community conversations on topics related to the city of Biddeford. To submit your own letter or column, please CONTACT US

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