There are two candidates competing for the Republican nomination to represent the newly configured state House District 38, which extends across Waldo County from Unity east to Monroe and Swanville.

District voters will decide Tuesday between Benjamin Hymes of Waldo and Jesse Waryck of Brooks. The winner of the primary will square off in the November general election against Democrat Robyn Stanicki of Union and Independent Heather Garrold of Knox.

In addition to Unity, Monroe and Swanville, the district includes Brooks, Jackson, Knox, Thorndike, Waldo and part of Frankfort.

Hymes did not respond to several email and phone messages left for him by the Morning Sentinel, but he told the Village Soup publication last week that he understands the struggles of Mainers. The 20-year Navy veteran told the Village Soup he had been on several combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in a special operations unit, experience that he said has given him an understanding of what might and might not work in America.

He said he has strong opinions about education, energy costs and other matters. He said if state leaders do not get energy costs under control, the situation could build into a crisis this summer and make for a difficult winter for Mainers.

Waryck, 40, works at Hamilton Marine. He previously worked as a purchaser but transferred to a part-time production position in order to run for the seat. He went to college for a few years, he said, but did not earn a degree, with some inspiration stemming from economics courses.

Waryck is running for the seat, he said, because he believes that “most politicians are out of touch with the experience of regular working class people.”

“I’ve always been curious about ways to solve or understand social problems and economic organization, and economics gave me analytical tools and some answers to these questions,” Waryck said.

In particular, Waryck said he feels strongly about several issues Mainers are facing, including laws that affect the state’s economy, education and addiction.

Jesse Waryck Photo courtesy of Jesse Waryck

“I believe that many laws affecting Maine’s economy could be reduced or streamlined to increase economic growth and help working class people, especially with the recession we are facing,” he said.

The state’s budget is only going up, he said, with government power always increasing, a trend he believes is at the expense of economic growth.

When it comes to the state’s “education problem,” Waryck believes increasing the number of schools and expanding school choice solves the issue by “allowing parents to decide which school suits their needs, rather than forcing one perspective on everyone involved.”

Additionally, he said addiction in Maine needs to be addressed.

“I’m against addiction-enabling taxpayer funded injection sites, and outpatient programs only prolong addiction,” he said. “We need good inpatient programs that focus on detox and medically assisted withdrawal. This gets the user in an addiction-free state so they can focus on rehabilitation.”