Rep. Michael Michaud (D) Elected 2002, 2d term
Born:	Jan. 18, 1955, Millinocket
Home:	East Millinocket
Education:	Schenck H.S., 1973
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	single
Elected  Office:	ME House, 1980-94; ME Senate, 1994-2001, Pres., 2001.
Professional Career:	Mill worker, Great Northern Paper, 1973-2002.
DC Office	437 CHOB20515, 202-225-6306; Fax: 202-225-2943; Web site: michaud.house.gov
State Offices	Bangor, 207-942-6935; Lewiston, 207-782-3704; Presque Isle, 207-764-1036; Waterville, 207-873-5713.
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The 2d District of Maine is heavily forested, rough-hewn and enormous. It covers the northern three-quarters of the state's acreage; it is the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi, larger than New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts combined. The population is not evenly distributed, however: The district dips south to include the heavily Democratic mill town of Lewiston and east to Eastport, just across the bay and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge from the Roosevelt Campobello International Park (Campobello is in New Brunswick, but is connected by bridge to the United States and not Canada). At Belfast on Penobscot Bay, art galleries and boutiques have replaced fish-processing plants. There are several different Maines here: The bays of coastal Maine, with their small fishing towns; the potato fields of far northern Aroostook County (at 6,543 square miles, Aroostook is so big that it covers an area greater than Rhode Island and Connecticut together); the mill towns on the fast-running streams of western Maine, penned in between mountains where there are more moose than people. This was one of America's frontiers in the 1850s, when Bangor on the Penobscot River was the lumber capital of the world; today tiny Bangor is the second-largest city in the district, planning a $184 million redevelopment of its industrial waterfront. This part of Maine has had its economic troubles, losing 22,000 jobs to neighboring Canada and other foreign markets after the 1993 passage of NAFTA, and further job losses in the shoe industry after that later. Potato production is only half what it was in 1980; a once-thriving sardine canning business is virtually gone; logging--long the largest business in Maine--has suffered job cutbacks as big paper companies sell off much acreage and a Massachusetts-based group seeks to create a North Maine Woods National Park. (Opponents' bumper stickers read: "If you don't like cutting trees, try using plastic toilet paper.") But there are also signs of life. Loring Air Force Base was closed in 1994, but new businesses from aircraft repair to telemarketing have replaced its civilian jobs and more. And some businesses persist: Washington County's sandy soil plains produce more than 90% of the nation's wild blueberry crop. Politically, this is protest country: This was Ross Perot's strongest congressional district in the United States in 1992 and 1996. The 2d was carried narrowly by Al Gore in 2000 and by a little wider margin by John Kerry in 2004.

The congressman from the 2d District is Mike Michaud (me-SHOO), a Democrat first elected in 2002 when John Baldacci gave up the seat and was elected governor. 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 28 years, he was a mill worker at the Great Northern Paper; unhappily, this dominant employer in this economically depressed area closed its plant a month after his election. "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." 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 would have been popular several decades ago among House Democrats but no longer now. 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 rights.

In the six-way Democratic contest for Baldacci's seat, Michaud's chief opponent was state Senator Susan Longley of Lewiston, the daughter of former Independent Governor James Longley and sister of the 1st District's former Republican Congressman James Longley Jr. She emphasized her support for abortion rights in a district that had not elected a pro-life candidate since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. But with support from organized labor, Michaud got 31% to Longley's 28% and 20% for former state Senator Sean Faircloth. 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, Michaud faced Kevin Raye, the veteran chief of staff to Senator Olympia Snowe. Michaud attempted to turn Raye's experience into a liability. His campaign slogan was, "I'm One of Us, Working for Us"--an attempt to contrast his blue collar background and union membership with Raye's white collar Washington experience. Michaud, perhaps to appeal to feminists despite his opposition to abortion, set out a 10-point "women's equity agenda," including family planning, increased child care aid, breast cancer research, and equal pay for equal work; Raye won the support of abortion rights groups. Michaud won 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, while he and Raye split the four counties closest to Penobscot Bay.

In the House, Michaud's voting record was moderate for a Democrat and less liberal than that of Maine colleague Tom Allen. He proposed creation of the Northeast Regional Development Commission, for aid to economically distressed areas, such as northern Maine. He opposed the Bush administration's new overtime rules, and he worked to create a caucus to join workers and environmentalists on issues such as trade. In June 2004, he welcomed the reopening of the Great Northern paper mill under new ownership, but with significantly less employees. 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; House Speaker Dennis Hastert and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned for Hamel. But Hamel, who had never held elected office had trouble getting noticed in this sprawling district with a presidential election and two controversial referendums on the ballot. Michaud was reelected 58%-39%.

Committees

• Small Business (11th of 15 D): Rural Enterprises, Agriculture & Technology; Tax, Finance & Exports.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (28th of 34 D): Economic Development, Public Buildings & Emergency Management; Highways, Transit & Pipelines.
• Veterans' Affairs (6th of 12 D): Health (RMM).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	90	70	100	91	50	10	48	20	0	33	--
2003	95	--	100	85	--	24	40	36	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	70%	--	30%		63%	--	36%
Social	59%	--	41%		64%	--	35%
Foreign	75%	--	21%		68%	--	30%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War N 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Michael Michaud (D)	199,303	58%	$1,309,195
	Brian Hamel (R)	135,547	39%	$667,464
	Other	8,586	3%
2004 primary	Michael Michaud (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Michael Michaud (D)	116,868	52%	$1,178,398
	Kevin Raye (R)	107,849	48%	$1,128,820

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 185,139 (52%) Bush (R) 164,377 (46%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 151,685 (48%) Bush (R) 142,603 (45%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 4
• District Size: 29,985 square miles
• Population in 2000: 637,473; 31.0% urban; 69.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $32,600; 13.3% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 28.5% blue collar; 53.0% white collar; 18.5% gray collar; 15.9% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 96.7% White, 0.4% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.8% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.9% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 0.7% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 15.8% English, 11.7% French, 10.3% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.