The State Senate race for District 8 is a tight race, and students are a key constituency for the candidates involved. Politicians hoping to take power over the Orono/Old Town area must act in favor of students if they want to see the support of student voters. In the race between Mike Tipping and Leo Kenney, only one has made a consistent effort to engage with the student body.
Mike Tipping has repeatedly acted in the best interest of students. He sponsored LD 1656, an act establishing student representation on the Board of Trustees for the University of Maine System. This gave students a voice in a system that regularly makes key decisions without considering student voices. Mike Tipping has tabled in the Union, where students can ask questions and communicate with someone in a position of power and have their voice heard.
Leo Kenney has not engaged with students outside of Greek Life. He only talks to students in fraternities. As a student not in a fraternity, I do not feel like this is a politician I can trust or talk to. He’s campaigning on a platform centered on being a local Orono small-town boy, but he’s not listening to local Orono voices.
He has refused to respond to student comments. The Maine Campus reached out to him personally across several platforms to arrange a town hall-style meeting between the two candidates. He did not respond or answer a single time. Mike Tipping responded to our email within five minutes and agreed to the forum.
Leo Kenney’s website has a lack of policy. Politicians taking stances prior to an election is critical for informed voting. I and a few other students left comments on his Instagram asking policy questions, such as plans to address climate change and whether he would protect LGBTQ+ rights. These students and I were not met with a policy statement, but rather a block on Instagram. Blocking students is not how you run for political power in a town that relies on the University of Maine to sustain itself.
How are people expected to practice informed voting for a politician that expresses no policy? Luckily, he has, in some instances, expressed a couple policy views for people to form their opinions on. He has expressed not wanting transgender students to share a bathroom with cisgender students. He has also expressed not wanting to move the election to a date where students are in session, believing they’d nullify the votes of “locally engaged voters.”
His political endorsements come from people who have known him his entire life. While these people can express political opinions and endorsements, I would like to hear an endorsement from someone who has worked with him only as a politician.
As a student voter, you should consider who has your best interests in mind. Mike Tipping has continuously proved himself to be a voice for students. Leo Kenney has not.