AUGUSTA — State Sen. David Trahan will resign from the Legislature’s fish and wildlife committee immediately and give up his Senate seat by the end of this year so he can serve as executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, starting in October.
Trahan, a Republican from Waldoboro, wants to keep his Senate seat until December so he can continue to work on the Legislature’s Taxation Committee. Trahan is Senate chairman of the committee, which has been authorized to meet this summer and fall to continue efforts to make Maine’s tax code “simpler and more fair,” according to a statement from the Senate Republican Office.
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“Since 1998, much of my time in both the Maine Senate and Maine House of Representatives has been devoted to tax issues,” Trahan said in the statement. “I see the completion of my work on this task as a fitting close to my years representing the wonderful people of Lincoln County and the entire state of Maine.”
Trahan’s selection to lead the state’s largest lobbying group for sportsmen won’t be official until next week, when the alliance’s board takes a final vote. Although that appears to be a procedural step, Trahan made it clear in the statement that he will not draw a paycheck from the alliance before Oct. 3.
By staying in the Senate until December, Trahan will be able to participate in a special session, set for September, in which lawmakers will consider a proposal for congressional redistricting.
Before he met with the board of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Trahan sought advice from the state ethics commission on whether he could be a lawmaker while serving as executive director of the group. He was advised against it, which is why he will resign from the Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee as soon as the board vote is final.
Trahan, 48, a logger by profession, served eight years in the House and three representing Senate District 20, which covers 19 communities in Lincoln County, two in Knox County and the Kennebec County town of Windsor. Trahan is one of 20 Republicans in the Senate, which has 14 Democrats and one independent.
The election to fill his seat, which likely will be held early next year, will be the fourth special election of this Legislature.
Rep. Everett McLeod Sr., R-Lee, died in December. Rep. Beth Turner, R-Burlington, was elected in March to the seat representing House District 11.
Sen. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, resigned his seat in March when he took a job in California. Rep. Cynthia Dill, D-Cape Elizabeth, won the election to fill his spot in Senate District 7. That opened up her House seat; an election to fill it is set for Aug. 16.
Susan Cover — 620-7015
scover@mainetoday.com
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