The congressman from the 2nd District is Mike Michaud (mee-SHOO), a Democrat first elected in 2002. Michaud grew up in East Millinocket in the North Woods. He comes from a blue-collar family and is one of the few members of Congress who did not attend college. For 29 years, he was a mill worker and union member at Great Northern Paper, and still proudly displays in his office the lunch bucket he used to carry to work. “I know what it’s like to work the day shift, the midnight shift. I’ve been on strike. I know what it’s like to worry about whether you will have a job or not,” Michaud says. In 1980, he was elected to the state House and in 1994 to the state Senate, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and became Senate president. Michaud has an eclectic mix of political views, which seem to be a throwback to earlier Democratic days. He is staunchly pro-labor, but opposes abortion rights. He opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but strongly supports gun ownership. “He’s not afraid to go up to leadership,” then-Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., told the Portland Press Herald in 2008. “He’s tenacious.” Read More

The congressman from the 2nd District is Mike Michaud (mee-SHOO), a Democrat first elected in 2002. Michaud grew up in East Millinocket in the North Woods. He comes from a blue-collar family and is one of the few members of Congress who did not attend college. For 29 years, he was a mill worker and union member at Great Northern Paper, and still proudly displays in his office the lunch bucket he used to carry to work. “I know what it’s like to work the day shift, the midnight shift. I’ve been on strike. I know what it’s like to worry about whether you will have a job or not,” Michaud says. In 1980, he was elected to the state House and in 1994 to the state Senate, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and became Senate president. Michaud has an eclectic mix of political views, which seem to be a throwback to earlier Democratic days. He is staunchly pro-labor, but opposes abortion rights. He opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but strongly supports gun ownership. “He’s not afraid to go up to leadership,” then-Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., told the Portland Press Herald in 2008. “He’s tenacious.”

When Democrat John Baldacci left his 2nd District seat to run for governor in 2002, six Democrats lined up for the primary. Michaud’s chief opponent was state Sen. Susan Longley of Lewiston, the daughter of former independent Gov. James Longley and sister of the 1st District’s former Republican congressman, James Longley Jr. She emphasized her support for abortion rights. With strong support from organized labor, Michaud got 31% to Longley’s 28%. It was a regional contest: Michaud carried the five most rural counties, and won 66% of the vote in Aroostook. Longley carried six counties chiefly in the southern part of the district, and won 59% in trendy coastal Waldo County.

In the general election, Michaud faced Kevin Raye, the chief of staff to Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe. Michaud attempted to turn Raye’s experience into a liability. His campaign slogan was, “I’m One of Us, Working for Us,” contrasting his blue-collar background with Raye’s white-collar job in Washington. Hoping to appeal to feminists despite his opposition to abortion, Michaud set out a 10-point “women’s equity agenda,” including support for family planning, increased child care aid, breast cancer research, and equal pay for equal work. Michaud defeated Raye 52%-48%. He ran better than most Democrats in rural areas, winning 53% in the seven northern counties, where unions conducted a voter-turnout drive in the mill towns.

In the House, Michaud’s voting record has been moderate for a Democrat. He is among the few New Englanders in the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, and voted against a June 2010 bill extending unemployment insurance by sharply questioning why Democratic leaders would tie jobless aid with help for catfish farmers and Hawaiian sugar cane growers. “Using the plight of the jobless as a way to lard up bills for pet issues represents the worst of the political process and is the height of irresponsibility,” he said. He was skeptical about the health care overhaul bill in 2009, but agreed to back it after getting a personal pitch from Obama. He displayed his independence in January 2011 by backing Heath Shuler of North Carolina, a fellow Blue Dog, over liberal Nancy Pelosi for Democratic leader.

Michaud has worked to unite workers and environmentalists on trade and other issues, and has emerged as a power broker on the issue. Michaud co-founded the House Trade Working Group, whose members are highly skeptical of trade agreements. He sponsored a bill in 2009 calling for a review of all existing trade agreements and for halting new ones, which attracted 148 co-sponsors, more than half of the House Democratic caucus. He helped sideline trade pacts with Colombia and Panama. Pro-trade U.S. corporations, he said in 2009, are “looking out for their own interests, not the best interests of security here in the United States or for jobs here in the United States.” He also led an effort in March 2010 to have the Obama administration address China’s undervalued currency by applying countervailing duties on Chinese exports.

After Democrats won a House majority in 2006, Michaud vied to become chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. But California Rep. Bob Filner had more seniority, and although he worried some Democrats with occasional outbursts of bad temper, he won a vote in the Democratic Caucus, 112-69.

In 2004, Michaud faced Brian Hamel, a Republican with a record of job creation as the president of the Loring Development Authority. National Republicans took an early interest in the race. But Hamel, who had never held elected office, had trouble getting noticed in this sprawling district. Michaud was re-elected 58%-39%. With continued strong support from organized labor, he expanded his margin in 2006 and defeated Republican eye care technician Laurence D’Amboise, 71%-29%. He faced a bit more difficulty in the anti-incumbent environment of 2010, when his opponent was Republican marketing company owner Jason Levesque, a political newcomer and staunch conservative. But Michaud campaigned hard, making regular trips home through the fall, and won with 55% of the vote.