Oliver McAvoy

Oliver McAvoy graduated from Katahdin High School. McAvoy earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Maine in 1995 and an associate degree from Eastern Maine Community College in 2003. McAvoy's career experience includes working as an IT manager.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

The son of a logger and a school secretary, I was born and raised in northern Maine. I grew up in a time where a working class life all but guaranteed the ability to afford a home, raise a family, take a vacation or two and save for retirement. Whether you chose to jump into the workforce right out of high school or decided to attend college, a middle class life was relatively achievable if you worked hard and saved. That time however is far behind us and getting worse with each passing year for younger generations. I want to work to help change that trajectory for our kids and grandkids...help get us back to where working people could afford a decent life without working three jobs to scrape out an existence.

For the last 25yrs I've been an IT professional working for some of Maine's largest companies on the world stage. I've lived with my wife Meaghan in Limington for almost 20 of those years, raising two girls through the local public school system. With them both in college and a bit more free time on my hands now, I want to help my community and the people of Maine, regardless of which side of the aisle you're on, blue collar, white collar, retired or just starting out in the workforce.

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?

Far too many of us are struggling to keep up with the soaring costs of food, energy and healthcare. Wealth inequality is at a level not seen since the Gilded Age. This is not America....this is not who this country is or should be. We need a government that invests in us, the working class people of Maine. The last legislation was able to permanently fund free community college in Maine to encourage and support furthering education in fields such as welding, fabrication, nursing, refrigeration, etc. We need more big ideas like this to invest in Maine's future, to invest in younger generations to encourage them to stay here and create lives like we were able to do.

Mainers deserve better.Healthcare in this country is broken for working class people and it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican when the nearest hospital closes. At some point all of us will need health services and when that happens there is the chance that you will have to worry about losing your home and/or life savings to save a family member whether you have insurance or not. We need healthcare that works for all of us, young, old, Democrat and Republican regardless of income. We all need better, more affordable options in this state. We are the oldest state by both average as well as median age...access to and affordability of healthcare isn't an option for us, it is a necessity that needs to be fixed.

Mainers deserve better.Our energy independence will become more imperative in the coming years as national and global instability make it more difficult to achieve. The last legislature passed the Act Regarding Energy Fairness which makes electricity affordability a legal priority while also increasing utility transparency. Additionally the plug-in solar law now allows renters and homeowners the ability to easily offset their electricity costs with energy that cannot be embargoed, cannot be tariffed, cannot be stifled or hampered by any country or corporation. We need to keep moving in this direction to further reduce our reliance on foreign powers and multi-national corporations to supply Maine with energy.

Mainers deserve better.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I want to get big money out of politics. I am proud to be a clean election candidate which limits donations to $5 and only from registered voters within my district. The Maine Clean Election Act helps provide support and is available for both Republicans and Democrats as a way to help get dark money out of politics regardless of political affiliation. The passage of Citizens United proved to be a watershed moment in US political history as we soon saw a surge in dark money attempting to influence candidates and support legislation that only benefited corporations and gave unequal influence over our politics.

I cannot and will not take donations from billionaires, super PACs or organizations outside my district to support my campaign.