Abigail Hebert

On Wednesday afternoon in Hubbard Hall, President of the Maine State Senate Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) spoke to students at an event organized by the McKeen Center for the Common Good. Daughtry, whose senate district includes her hometown of Brunswick, began by discussing her journey to office before taking questions from students.

Daughtry first explained that she owes much of her civic inclination to her family and her upbringing.

“I grew up in a civically engaged family,” Daughtry said. “The woman who is like my second mother … was a state legislator, and so when my parents didn’t have childcare, they would send me up with her to be a page. So I’d seen the Maine legislature. I covered it as a journalist, and I ran voter registration drives. I would volunteer every election day, and really took it seriously that this was one of the most important parts of our country, this gift of democracy.”

However, Daughtry originally dreamed of a career in the arts, not politics. After taking classes at Bowdoin during high school, she continued her studies at Smith College, majoring in sculpture and photography.

“I was hoping to be working in a magazine,” Daughtry said. “I wanted to have a career as a journalist or be able to make art. I literally never would have thought that I would have been senate president for the state of Maine. To teach you all one thing: Your life is not going to go according to plan, and that is the best thing ever.”

Daughtry explained that one of the major catalysts for her career in the public sector was the 2008 financial crisis.

“I had dreams of living in the city in a brownstone, and then the economic crisis in 2008 pretty much gutted my class and the classes after it. I tried to find employment. I think I had applied to 30 different jobs,” Daughtry said. “At one point, I was working five jobs just to be able to live in my own hometown.”

Becoming angered with the cost of living and the state of politics, especially with the performance of then-Governor of Maine Paul LePage, Daughtry posted an entry on her blog titled “Get a grip, Mr. LePage.” The post, she said, went viral almost immediately.

“I wrote it.… I didn’t think anyone would read it, and went to bed,” Daughtry said. “I woke up the next morning, and it had gone viral, and I was getting letters from across the state, especially from folks who were my age … who were in the same boat.… So I got re-engaged, and I didn’t know what was next, but I started volunteering more.”

Daughtry discussed how this renewed interest in politics led to her successful run for the Maine House of Representatives in 2012. Her victory made her the youngest female legislator in the state at the time. After serving four terms in the State House, Daughtry announced her candidacy for the Maine State Senate in January 2020.

Daughtry quickly rose through the ranks after being elected to the State Senate, becoming the Democratic Party whip before being elevated to Senate President.

“I was the first [state] senate president who was elected unanimously,” she said. “Increasingly, I have to remind myself of that some mornings when I see the hyper-partisanship boiling over, and it reminds me that no matter what’s going on in D.C., we can try to create the community we want to see here in our own state by continuing to appeal … to our shared humanity.”

Daughtry highlighted her work to address housing affordability through a new state committee.

“There’s now a permanent committee in the legislature that looks at these issues,” she said. “We are looking at zoning…, looking at those regulations, looking at building codes, doing a lot of work on education development, trying to get people into the trades and then also looking at … how do we have tenant protections? How do we make sure that people have safe housing?”

Regarding a potential future in politics, Daughtry was noncommittal.

“I’m always looking for the opportunity to make the best change possible, and should that keep me in elected office, then yes,” Daughtry said. “I don’t know what’s next. I do know I have no interest in being in D.C. right now. It’s a really cool visit. But I don’t know what doors are gonna open next.”

Attendee Gianna Keuer ’28 appreciated Daughtry’s stories of public service and coalition building.

“​​I wanted to attend … to learn more about her career in state politics and how she’s advanced the common good through a career in public service,” Keuer said. “I was really inspired to hear how she’s advocated for important causes while fighting polarization and promoting cooperation between legislators.”