Ashley Webb

Ashley Webb's career experience includes working as an advocate.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm Ashley Webb, an independent artist, published author, and patient advocate from Farmington, Maine. I'm running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Graham Platner's withdrawal. I'm an openly trans and intersex woman, and my campaign — "Ashley Webb: Take No Prisoners" — is built on years of hands-on advocacy work and a commitment to constituent-first public service.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Healthcare reform that puts patients first — I've spent years navigating a healthcare system that too often protects itself before it protects the people it serves, and I'll bring that firsthand knowledge to fighting for reimbursement and staffing models that give clinicians real time with patients.Rural infrastructure investment — I'm proposing a new highway corridor connecting Farmington and Skowhegan to the interstate system, closing a gap that hurts emergency response times and regional commerce in Franklin and Somerset counties.Government that answers the phone — public service should mean showing up for constituents, not partisan performance. I bring a practical, detail-driven approach to accountability in Washington.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Healthcare system reform and patient rights, rural infrastructure investment, and government accountability. I bring a firsthand, detail-driven perspective to healthcare policy from years of navigating the system directly as a patient advocate.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Rosa Parks. She stood up for what she believed in, no matter the cost, and her quiet, unshakable refusal to back down changed the country. That's the kind of courage I try to bring to my own advocacy work.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and follow-through. An elected official should tell people the truth even when it's inconvenient, and should actually do the work of digging into a problem instead of settling for the easy answer. I think the most important trait is simply showing up — answering the phone, reading the file, doing the homework — rather than just making promises.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A U.S. Senator's core job is to represent the actual, specific interests of their state — not a party line — while legislating and providing oversight at the federal level. That means constituent services aren't a side function, they're central to the job: helping people navigate federal agencies, veterans' benefits, healthcare systems, and infrastructure funding that directly affects their lives.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I'd want to be remembered as someone who made the system answer to the people it's supposed to serve — someone who took the unglamorous, detail-heavy work of accountability seriously, and who made it a little easier for the next person navigating a broken system to be believed and taken seriously.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first paid job was in the dairy department at Market Basket, where I worked for two years. I took real pride in providing excellent customer service — but it also taught me a hard lesson early on: some people take a job just for the paycheck without putting in the effort, while others show up and actually do the work. That contrast stuck with me. After that, I moved to Walmart as a cashier, where I could provide more direct, face-to-face customer service. Before all of it, I'd spent four years babysitting my sibling unpaid, which is where I first learned that life isn't always fair.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Navigating a healthcare system that too often protects itself before it protects patients. It took me years of reading my own medical records, cross-referencing imaging and notes across multiple institutions, and asking hard questions that no one wanted to answer, just to be taken seriously about my own health. That struggle is a big part of why I'm running.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Rebuilding trust in institutions — healthcare, government, and the systems people rely on when things go wrong — at a time when partisan gridlock makes even basic constituent problems harder to solve. Rural communities in particular are being left behind on infrastructure and access to care.

What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Its role as a body meant to slow things down and force deliberation — every state gets equal representation regardless of population, which is meant to protect smaller, rural states like Maine from being drowned out by larger ones.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes. My own family history reflects that directly — my father was a Republican state representative in New Hampshire, and I'm running as a Democrat. Real policymaking requires working across those lines without abandoning your core principles. Gridlock isn't strength, it's failure.

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

September 11th. I remember a country that wasn't divided — where patriotism actually meant something, and people came together instead of pulling apart. That contrast to where we are now stays with me.