SCARBOROUGH, ME – Sean Flaherty, a Scarborough native, has passed his required petition signatures into the Secretary of State’s office in Augusta securing his name on the June primary election ballot. Sean Flaherty is unopposed in the Democratic primary for Maine House of Representatives, District 127, which is currently held by John McDonough.

“It was a great honor hand delivering the petition signatures to the Secretary of State in Augusta,” Flaherty said. “I wanted to deliver them and say, ‘Here I am. I want to represent the taxpayers of Scarborough in this building.’”

Flaherty is enthusiastic to get his campaign going now, since he has been assured of a spot on the ballot. “This is an invigorating process,” Flaherty said. “Having grown up in Scarborough, I think I know a lot of what people think about, and what issues face them in their daily lives. But I like speaking with friends and neighbors and hearing it first hand for myself.”

Flaherty worked in a government relations position in where he is responsible for organizing grassroots efforts utilizing the tools available over the internet. “It’s amazing how you can use technology to engage people on issues and work together to help foster positive change.” One of the recent issues Flaherty successfully organized for was supporting the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Reform Act.

The bill that passed Congress this month included new protections for America’s consumers like finally making it illegal for stores to sell recalled products and also included an increase in the testing of toys and other products.

“This was an important issue to a lot of people,” Flaherty said about the bill, “folks shouldn’t have to worry about lead paint being on their kids’ toys. Our efforts started last year, before Thanksgiving, and thanks to getting thousands of concerned people to join the cause, we were able to get the bill passed by Congress. It took help from a fisherman from Maine, a farmer from California, and folks from everywhere in between to join our cause – and we couldn’t have done it without technology, the internet, and a desire to change things.

Flaherty said that leaving his job wasn’t easy because he enjoyed working in support of issues that helped people, but noted that representing Scarborough in Augusta will be even more rewarding.

“It’s exciting to talk to my neighbors about health care, education, and property tax rates,” Flaherty said. “There are issues that are important to all of us here in Scarborough. I want to get people on the same page to work together to make things better. And to do that, I’m doing a lot of listening, finding out how best to work on behalf of the town.”

But before Flaherty can represent Scarborough next year, he has to campaign this year. “We have a lot to do in the next few weeks before the June primary. Organizing the campaign committee, meeting with local business leaders, knocking on doors, and much more will be important. What will make me an effective candidate will ultimately make me an effective legislator,” he said.

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