From the October 9th Edition of The Forecaster

SCARBOROUGH — The election in House District 127 is between Democratic incumbent Rep. Sean Flaherty and Republican candidate Amy Volk.

The district covers coastal Scarborough, including Scarborough Marsh, Pine and Black points, to the borders with Saco and Cape Elizabeth.

Flaherty, 25, is running for a second term after beating Republican John McDonough in 2008. He serves on the House Utilities and Energy Committee.

Flaherty is a life-long resident of Scarborough and graduated from Scarborough schools, going on to George Washington University on a swimming scholarship. He has been a swimming coach for Scarborough and for Maine Swimming, is a member of the board of Project GRACE and the New Leader’s Council.

Flaherty said in his first term the Legislature approved, with bipartisan support, two balanced budgets, neither of which raised taxes. He said he is confident the state will be able to balance the budget again by streamlining the cost of government and reducing wasteful spending.

He added that priorities include ensuring continuation of services such as education, road and bridge maintenance and property tax rebates.

“I fought to make sure Scarborough got its fair share of state resources for our schools,” Flaherty said. “I worked to ensure that the property tax rebates would be fully funded again.”

He said the school funding formula should be thrown out and replaced.

Flaherty said he would support blending Social Security benefits into the state pension system, which he said would save the state millions of dollars. He emphasized that there is no silver bullet to solve the pension crisis, but that he would work for a bipartisan solution.

Flaherty said he would support marriage equality if a bill comes up again, citing the 2009 vote in which the majority of Scarborough voters voted no on Question 1. He said he believes all people must be treated equally under the law and that the state should not be in the business of defining love.

Flaherty said he would support creating “a diverse and sound energy policy for Maine,” including incentives for homeowners and businesses to become energy efficient while promoting domestic energy production like on- and off-shore wind, tidal and bio-mass.

“I think I best represent the desire of people in the district to move Maine forward,” Flaherty said.