Sam Pfeifle

Sam Pfeifle earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont in 1996. His career experience includes working as a writer.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Right now, I live on West Gray Road, in Gray, in an 1870s innkeeper's house I bought with my wife Kristen back in 2001. In the past 25 years, we have raised two children together, Ruby and Gus, who loved their time in the GNG school system and recently graduated.

I've been a teacher/writer/editor/journalist/content creator/publisher/musician/retailer/consultant/whatever pays the bills for a long time now, but largely make my money currently in the music industry working for a booking agency and helping to operate the bookstore I own with my sister. I like to make beautiful and useful things with my friends and put on parties and events and it's helpful when people pay me money to do it.

We love to travel and see new things and I have been lucky enough to have jobs that often sent me places, so I've been to lots of places and met lots of amazing people and I consider myself very lucky to be here in Maine, which is still the place I've liked the most.

I really enjoy helping people and problem solving and that has always drawn me to public service, where I often find I can be helpful and useful by deploying the skills I've collected over the years in listening and communicating and translating confusing policy language into information that people can understand and use to make good decisions for their own lives.

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?

After many years of public service, including my last 12 years on the school board, I think I have a good understanding of how to use public policy to do the most good for the most people while doing the least harm. I enjoy the work and I think I'm good at listening to people, making sure I understand their concerns, and working to address them.

I'd like to continue that work at the next level in Augusta as a representative of the people of Gray-New Gloucester, which is a fantastic area of the state that I think is often overlooked in state policymaking and marketing.We have major problems in Maine and the larger U.S. society, particularly around core areas of life like health care, housing, and the cost of food. These basic necessities of life are becoming increasingly unaffordable and it's scary. When you combine them with the rapidly changing climate, which exacerbates all of those issues and more, it can be a very scary time!

We need to work together to address these issues so that people don't slip through the cracks and find themselves truly suffering; there is enough for all of us to succeed and I want to be a part of making sure that continues to happen here in Maine.Running as an independent, one of my major goals is to make it clear that I'm on everyone's side — we all want the same basic things: a comfortable place to live with our family, a way of earning a living that we can enjoy and be proud of, good food on the table and plenty of time to have fun with friends and family. We can have that!

But only if we care for each other and act as a community and make sure the least-fortunate among us get a helping hand from their neighbors. I want to lead with love and use my time and energy to make life better for all of us.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

First we need to focus on the basics — health care, housing, and the changing climate. It's impossible to be more nuanced about policymaking when people are suffering and the world is crashing down around us.

We need to create a public option for health insurance here in Maine, we need to build and transform housing to make it more accessible to people, and we need to create resilience within our communities so that the rapidly changing climate doesn't destroy what we have built (while working to minimize the pace of the climate's change).

I'm also passionate about education, fostering an environment where the arts can thrive, and making sure everyone has an equal opportunity to live their lives as they want.

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

I try to take a little bit of good from everyone, but I look up to my parents a great deal, who have been great examples of caring for and building the community they want to live in. My professional mentor was a man named Clif Garboden, who taught me everything I know about writing and editing, first, but also caring for people and being a good person in the world.

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

First and foremost, the job is to represent the interests of the people of Gray-New Gloucester when issues affecting us come up in Augusta. What matters to us? It's also important to help people in Gray-New Gloucester when they are having difficulty navigating the administration in Augusta — how can I make things easier?

What legacy would you like to leave?

I'd like people to remember that I helped them build something they cared about a great deal.

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

I was babysitting by 12 years old (I remember taking a class in middle school, and often babysitting the younger siblings of my classmates, like a huge nerd), but my first real job was working landscaping for my family friend's veterinary clinic the summer after I turned 16. It was backbreaking!

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

In large part, I have been a very lucky person, with a wonderful family and life in general. If I have struggled, it has been with anger and resentment toward the death of the journalism industry, where I have most wanted to make my living, but where virtually every publication I've ever written for has gone out of business of massively downsized. I believe a healthy and productive journalism industry is really important for healthy public life, and I'm scared about our current information ecosystem.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I think it should be a conversation where both parties work together and keep the people of Maine first and foremost in their thoughts.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Healthcare, housing, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

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

Of course. Life is compromise.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

So far, I have been endorsed by:

- The Maine Education Association

- The Maine AFL-CIO

- The Maine Service Employees Association, SEIU Local 1989

- The Maine Conservation Voters Action Fund

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

The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion was a big historical event for me, and I remember watching it on a rolled-in TV cart at my elementary school. I also remember the presidential election that featured Geraldine Ferraro as the first woman nominated for vice president by a major party — even though I was only 9, I remember thinking how strange that was. She was the first? Why?