About the Governor

John Elias Baldacci was reelected Governor of the State of Maine in November 2006 for a second term. Governor Baldacci has made the health, education, and well-being of Mainers his top priorities, and he has drawn on his strong sense of community spirit to serve the people of Maine. In this next term he will focus on private sector job growth, growing personal income, and property tax relief.

Governor Baldacci was born and raised in Bangor, Maine. One of eight children, Baldacci learned the value of communication and cooperation at a young age. As he grew up in his family's Bangor restaurant, Momma Baldacci's, Baldacci was surrounded by civic-minded family and community members who instilled in him an intense work ethic and an equally intense desire to serve the people of his state. While working at the family restaurant, Baldacci earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Maine, where he continued to learn about the opportunities and challenges that faced the people in his communities.

At twenty-three-years-old, Baldacci served as a member of the Bangor City Council, his first elected position. While serving on the Council, Baldacci solidified his commitment to the people of Bangor and looked forward to applying his unique perspective and work ethic as a leader for all Mainers. In 1982, Baldacci was elected to the Maine State Senate, where he served for twelve years, before being elected to the United States House of Representatives for Maine's Second District in 1994.

While running for Congress, Baldacci took the family business on the road, hosting spaghetti suppers in small communities tucked away in the massive Second District, the largest Congressional District east of the Mississippi River. At these dinners, Baldacci did something rare in politics: he listened.

Baldacci was re-elected to Congress in 1996, 1998, and 2000, and he committed himself to acting in the best interest of his home state and the people who lived there. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Baldacci played an active role in decisions that directly affected the people he served. While in Congress, Baldacci traveled home to Maine every weekend, talking with the people he was charged with representing. Baldacci was determined to hear first-hand the challenges Mainers faced, and his weekend sojourns gave Baldacci the insight he needed to make important decisions to benefit his state.

Governor Baldacci continues to dedicate himself to the people he serves, always remembering the question his father, Bob, posed to him when he was a State Senator: "What did you do for the people today?" It is the Governor's commitment to Maine, his passion for the natural resources that make Maine unique, and his fearless defense of "The Way Life Should Be" that motivate Governor Baldacci to do good work. And he's still listening.

AGENCY INFORMATION

About the Governor