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Justin Chenette
File:2020 Headshot of Justin Chenette.jpg
Photo of Justin Chenette taken in 2020
Member of the Maine Senate
from the 31st district
In office
December 7, 2016 – December 2, 2020
Preceded byLinda Valentino
Succeeded byDonna Bailey
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
from the 15th district
In office
December 2012 – December 2016
Preceded byLinda Valentino
Succeeded byMargaret M. O'Neil
Member of the
Maine State Board of Education
In office
2008–2009
Personal details
Born (1991-04-23) April 23, 1991 (age 33)
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEduard Chenette
Residence(s)Saco, Maine, U.S.
OccupationEntrepreneur & Non-Profit Professional
Websitejustinchenette.com

Justin Chenette (born April 23, 1991) is an American Democratic politician from Saco, Maine. Chenette served 8 years in the Maine Legislature, consisting of two terms in the Senate and two terms in the House of Representatives.[1] Chenette made history becoming the first student member appointed to the Maine State Board of Education at age 17 and becoming both the youngest legislator in Maine and the youngest openly gay legislator in the United States at age 21.[2][3]

Owing to this, The Advocate magazine named Chenette "an architect of the next decade" and listed him among the 40 Under 40 most accomplished leaders throughout the country in 2013.[4]

Chenette was a Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 2020.[5]

Early life and education

[edit]

Chenette graduated high school from Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine.[6] While in high school, Chenette was the station manager, executive producer, anchor, reporter, and host of Thornton Academy's TATV Channel 3, Saco's educational television station. TATV is one of the only student-run educational TV stations in the country. At the station, Chenette hosted a public affairs show he created, The Issue and produced three live election results shows. His work was recognized by the Student Television Network by honoring Chenette as the 2009 Student Broadcast Journalist of the Year.[7]

Based on his media efforts in high school, Chenette was selected as a Gannett Journalism Scholar for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.[8]

Chenette took courses through the early studies program at the University College at Saco and at the University of Southern Maine.[9] He went on to graduate a semester early from Lyndon State College with a bachelor's degree in broadcast news.[10]

In 2019, Chenette completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.

In 2021, Chenette earned a post-baccalaureate in public administration from the University of Maine at Augusta.[11]

Early career

[edit]

In 2008, Governor John Baldacci appointed Chenette to the Maine State Board of Education making him the first student member in the history of the board at age 17.[12] In his 16-month term, Chenette pushed for civic engagement curriculum, a universal grading system, increased drug prevention, and to shore up the educational disparity between northern and southern Maine. Chenette served on the Student Voices Committee.[13]

In May 2012, Chenette was elected at the Maine State Democratic Convention as an at-large delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention down in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chenette was one of the youngest members of Maine's delegation to the DNC.[14]

Chenette served as an intern for Republican U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe prior to her retirement in 2012.[15]

Maine House of Representatives

[edit]

Elections

[edit]

2012

[edit]

Chenette announced his first run for public office at the age 20, while he was still attending college, when the sitting State Representative Linda Valentino was termed out and seeking the State Senate seat.[16] He faced a Democratic challenger in the June Primary.

Chenette was elected in 2012 to the Maine House of Representatives after winning the Democratic primary for the seat against challenger Sonya Lundh-Gay with 78% of the vote,[17] and going on to win the general election over Republican challenger Roland Wyman with 60% of the vote.[18]

2014

[edit]

Chenette was unopposed in his re-election to the newly redrawn district 15 in the June Primary. He went on to face Saco Republican Chairwoman Carol Patterson in the General Election replacing Republican candidate Frederick Fortier who dropped out of the race. There was controversy surrounding the transparency of his replacement in selecting Patterson.[19] In what many considered to be a wave election for Republicans, Chenette won re-election two percentage points higher than his previous election with 62% of the vote.[20]

Tenure

[edit]

Chenette co-sponsored successful bipartisan legislation to ban Clean Election candidates from operating PACs.[21][22]

As a freshman lawmaker, Chenette passed legislation that added community service to the list of possible high school graduation standards.[23]

He also passed a bill to prevent the legislature from raising or lowering speed limits and instead ensure that those decisions would be left to traffic engineers at the Maine Department of Transportation. After the bill became law, highway speeds increased.[24][25]

Committee assignments and caucuses

[edit]
  • Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee (2014–2016) [26]
  • State & Local Government Committee (2012-2014) [27]
  • Legislative Youth Caucus, Co-Chair (2012–2016) [28]

Maine Senate

[edit]

2016 election

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Chenette chose not to run for re-election to the House of Representatives and instead sought an open State Senate seat after the retirement of Linda Valentino.[29]

In the primary election, Chenette faced longtime Democratic politician Barry Hobbins, who spent 26 years in the legislature. Despite being outspent 4:1 by the former Minority Leader, Chenette won the election by 12 points, earning 56% of the vote.[29][30]

Ahead of the general election, Chenette was the target of hate referencing his sexuality. He won the election and became the youngest Senator at 25 and only openly gay member of the State Senate.[31][32]

2018 election

[edit]

Chenette defeated Stavros Mendros in the General Election with 67% of the vote to go onto to a second term in the State Senate.[33]

He continued his run as the youngest Senator and only openly gay member of the Senate.[34]

Electoral history

[edit]
Maine Senate district 31 General Election, 2018[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette (incumbent) 12,122 66.48%
Republican Stavros Mendros 6,113 33.52%
Total votes 18,235 100.0
Democratic hold
Maine Senate district 31 General Election, 2016[36]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette 12,332 57.69%
Republican Timothy Sevigny 9,043 42.31%
Total votes 21,375 100.0
Maine Senate Primary Election 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette 1,321 56%
Democratic Barry Hobbins 1,042 44%

[30]

Maine House of Representatives District 15 General Election 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette 2,451 62%
Republican Carol Patterson 1,508 38%

[37]

Maine House of Representatives District 134 General Election 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette 3,074 60%
Republican Roland Wyman 2,028 40%

[18]

Maine House of Representatives District 134 Primary Election 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Chenette 543 78%
Democratic Sonya Lundh-Gay 154 22%

[38]


Personal life

[edit]

Chenette is married to Eduard Chenette, an environmental engineer.[39]

Chenette works at the Journal Tribune, a newspaper located in Biddeford, as their digital advertising executive. There he started two new initiatives, JT CARES, a nonprofit charitable arm of the paper, and JT MEDIA, a full-service marketing arm that provides a range of new media services to businesses.[40] In 2013, Chenette started his first small business, Chenette Media LLC, a multimedia public relations company based in Saco.[41] He previously worked at Rocky Coast Marketing, a full-service advertising and marketing firm, as vice-president of social media, specializing in web creation/management, media relations, and social media outreach.[42]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Senator Justin Chenette 2020 Legislative Update" (PDF). Maine Senate. September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Marnie Maclean (December 6, 2012). "Maine home to youngest, openly gay lawmaker in nation". NECN.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Student Board Members | Department of Education". www.maine.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  4. ^ Advocate Editors (April 17, 2013). "40 Under 40". {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Maine Democrats ready to choose likely secretary of state". newscentermaine.com. News Center Maine. November 30, 2020. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  6. ^ "District 31 - State Senator Justin Chenette (D - York) | Maine State Legislature". legislature.maine.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  7. ^ "Thornton Academy grad on path to media prominence". Keep Me Current. April 1, 2010. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.
  8. ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  9. ^ "Justin Chenette gains competitive edge through University College at Saco | Saco". learn.maine.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  10. ^ "Lyndon State Senior Justin Chenette Elected State Rep. in Maine". Lyndon State College. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012.
  11. ^ "– UMaine at Augusta announces part-time dean's lists". Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  12. ^ Maine Department of Education (July 23, 2019). "First student members of State Board of Education". Maine Gov.
  13. ^ "Student Members". State of Maine.
  14. ^ Democratic National Committee. "2012 Convention Delegates". Archived from the original on 2012-08-24.
  15. ^ "Maine's youngest legislator old hand at social media". Keep Me Current. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  16. ^ Kate Irish Collins (December 22, 2011). "Chenette to run for State House". Keep Me Current. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015.
  17. ^ "Biddeford, Saco, OOB Primary Elections Results". Keep Me Current. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
  18. ^ a b "Election Results". WGME 13. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013.
  19. ^ "Maine GOP Busted Rigging Recruitment Rules for State House Candidates". Maine Democratic Party. August 13, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  20. ^ "Election Results 2014". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  21. ^ Board, The BDN Editorial (2015-03-16). "Clean Election candidates shouldn't run political action committees". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  22. ^ An Act To Restrict the Raising of Money by Maine Clean Election Act Candidates (Act). State of Maine Legislature. 27 January 2015.
  23. ^ An Act To Require High School Students To Complete Community Service (Act). State of Maine Legislature. 30 May 2013.
  24. ^ An Act To Raise the Speed Limit on Interstate 295 (Act). State of Maine Legislature. 20 May 2013.
  25. ^ Hench, David (24 May 2014). "Maine Turnpike, interstate speed limits set to rise". Portland Press Herald.
  26. ^ "Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety". State of Maine. 2014.
  27. ^ "Representative Justin M. Chenette". Maine House Democrats. 2014.
  28. ^ "Election 2014: Incumbent seeks second term in Saco". Courier Newspaper. October 23, 2014.
  29. ^ a b Shepherd, Michael (14 June 2016). "Ben Chipman, Justin Chenette win Democratic primaries". Bangor Daily News.
  30. ^ a b LIZ GOTTHELF (June 15, 2016). "Chenette snags nomination in Senate District 31". Journal Tribune. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  31. ^ Leigh, Vivien (22 July 2016). "Gay Saco lawmaker target of GOP email". News Center Maine.
  32. ^ "State Senate candidate says someone mailed him hateful message". WGME-TV. 26 October 2016.
  33. ^ Gotthelf, Liz (7 November 2018). "Justin Chenette re-elected to State Senate 31 seat". Portland Press Herald.
  34. ^ "Chenette sworn in as youngest, only LGBTQ member of Senate". Maine Senate Democrats. 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  35. ^ "2018 Maine State Senate election". Wikipedia. 10 January 2022.
  36. ^ "Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, Elections and Voting, Results, 2014 Tabulations". www.maine.gov.
  37. ^ "2014 General Election results for Maine". Bangor Daily News. December 12, 2014. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  38. ^ "House roundup House primary races". Portland Press Herald.
  39. ^ "Sen. Justin Chenette". Maine Senate Democrats. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  40. ^ "Advertise With Us | www.journaltribune.com | The Journal Tribune". www.journaltribune.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  41. ^ "Chenette Media LLC". Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  42. ^ "Vice President of Social Media". Rocky Coast Marketing. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30.


Category:1991 births Category:Gay politicians Category:Maine Democrats Category:LGBTQ people from Vermont Category:LGBTQ state legislators in Maine Category:People from Saco, Maine Category:Members of the Maine House of Representatives Category:Living people Category:Lyndon State College alumni Category:21st-century American politicians Category:Maine state senators

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