HOULTON, Maine — Henry John Bear, a tribal member representing the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians in the state House of Representatives, announced his candidacy Friday for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
Earlier in the week Bear switched from the Democrats to the Green Independent Party, setting the stage for his candidacy in the 2nd District race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
On Friday afternoon, Bear officially announced his to run for the U.S. House of Representatives during an event at the Aroostook Treaty Education Center in Houlton.
Poliquin already has nine other challengers. Lucas St. Clair and Jared Golden are his most likely Democratic challengers, but a libertarian and two unaffiliated candidates also are running longshot bids.
“I’m different,” said Bear, “and that’s why I have a reasonable chance of succeeding in this campaign. I represent change. I’m capable, fearless when necessary, and the first tribal member with a law degree to run for U.S. Congress in Maine. Due to my life experience with the U.S. Coast Guard as a rescue coordinator, followed by extensive legal, small business and legislative experience, I am motivated to not shy away from conflict. Instead, I run toward it seeking to know who’s in trouble and what the threat is, and then take timely action to help. That’s my nature.”
In registering as a Maine Green Independent, Bear joins Ralph Chapman of Brooksville as the second Green serving in the state Legislature. Maine now has the two highest elected Greens in the United States, according to party officials.
Bear is in his third term representing the Houlton Band of Maliseets in the Legislature He has been praised for his work on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, helping to move through a bill to provide tuition assistance for veterans, for example, and earning the American Legion’s Legislator of the Year Award in 2016. A 15-year veteran of the Coast Guard, Bear works as a designer on the guided missile destroyer program’s naval weapons electrical systems at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works.
Now he looks toward serving the tribes and all people of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in a federal role, prioritizing issues on the environment, civil rights, strength through non-violent and humanitarian military sophistication, and economic equity, according to his campaign.
Bear points to incumbent Poliquin’s lack of support for Medicaid expansion, which recently passed overwhelmingly at the ballot box statewide, as a clear sign that the people of the 2nd District need representation that more closely aligns with their interests.
In joining his new party, Bear credits Green Presidential Candidate Jill Stein and Chapman, his seatmate in the House, for articulating positions that aligned with his own and drew his attention to the rising interest in the Maine Green Independents.
“I have found that our issues are very similar,” said Bear, “especially on the issues of the environment and civil rights and economic equity. I believe in health care for everyone who can’t afford it and I believe in ensuring that one person’s hard day’s work results in a living wage, enough for a house and a car payment, and food for her family.”
While a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseets, Bear also is the son of a French Canadian-American mother, with parents married in the Catholic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, was born at St. Mary’s in Lewiston, lived in four Auburn foster homes, and graduated from Edward Little High School in Auburn, then the University of Maine at Presque Isle, before earning his law degree in nearby New Brunswick.
“You could say I’m a true son of the 2nd District,” Bear said, “born, educated, and life-long resident. I have skills to put differences aside and use democratic solutions to achieve a truly moral economy and push back against powerful bullying in all forms. We have the technology to communicate with each other, anywhere, instantly. I will use it to implement policy agreements that move us toward a healthy and prosperous community, a progressive and transparent government, and safer and more inclusive world community.”
