Mike Michaud

Michaud was born in Millinocket, Maine, the son of Geneva Jean (née Morrow) and James Michaud, Sr. His parents were both of French-Canadian descent.^[8] He grew up in Medway, Maine, and is a graduate of Schenck High School in East Millinocket.

He was a mill worker and supervisor at Great Northern Paper Company in East Millinocket, from 1973 until his election to Congress in 2002, during which time he was a member of the United Steelworkers. Michaud's interest in politics began when he campaigned to clean up the Penobscot River in the late 1970s.

Michaud was elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1980 to the 134th district. In 1984, he defeated an independent candidate by a landslide, despite large Republican gains in other districts.^[9] He also won re-election in 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1992.

Michaud served eleven terms in the Maine Legislature, including seven in the Maine House of Representatives and four in the Maine Senate. In the House, Michaud represented Medway and East Millinocket.^[10]

As Chair of the Energy Committee, he helped to increase the cost of dumping.^[11][12]

• Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Chair)^[13]

In 1994, he ran for Maine's 3rd Senate district. Despite the fact that it was a typical backlash year with one party taking the lead, he defeated incumbent State Senator Margaret Ludwig, a millionaire, 58%-42%.^[14] In 1996, he won re-election to a second term with 64% of the vote.^[15] In 1998, he won re-election to a third term with 77% of the vote.^[16] In 2000, he won re-election to a fourth term with 69% of the vote.^[16]

During his years in the state legislature, he continued to work at the Great Northern Paper Company until his election to Congress. To accommodate his legislative schedule, he changed his factory shifts, for instance by working weekends.^[17]

From 1994 to 1996, Michaud was appointed to Governor Angus King's Productivity Realization Task Force. In 1997, he was appointed to the Maine Commission on Children's Health Care. After the 1998 election, the Maine Senate found itself divided into 17 Republicans, 17 Democrats and one Independent. In a compromise organization, each party agreed to assume the Senate Presidency for one year, with the single Independent awarded the chair of the crucial Appropriations Committee. Accordingly, in December 2000, Michaud was unanimously elected President of the Maine Senate.

In 2001, Mike was honored with the dedication of the Michael H. Michaud Technology Center for helping to secure state funding for the University of Maine at Presque Isle Houlton Higher Education Center. He also received the College Board's Education Award at the National Council of State Legislatures annual meeting.^[3]

• Joint Appropriations Committee (Chair)

2002

Michaud ran for Congress in 2002 for Maine's 2nd congressional district after incumbent Democrat John Baldacci decided to run for Governor of Maine. Michaud faced three other state senators in the Democratic primary. He won the primary with a plurality of 31% of the vote, beating the second place challenger, Susan W. Longley, by 4 percentage points. The general election garnered considerable publicity because Michaud was anti-abortion, while the Republican was pro-abortion rights. Republican Kevin Raye, of Perry, was the Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. Michaud defeated Raye, 52%–48%.^[18]

2004

Michaud won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican businessman Brian Hamel, 58%–39%.^[19]

2006

Michaud won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican Lisbon Town Selectman Laurence Scott D'Amboise, 71%–29%.^[20]

2008

Michaud won re-election to a fourth term, defeating his Republican opponent, professor John Frary 67%-33%.^[21]

2010

Michaud won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Republican business owner and U.S. Army veteran Jason Levesque, 55%–45%. He won every county in the district, except Piscataquis.^[22]

2012

Michaud won re-election to a sixth term, defeating Republican State Senator and Maine Senate President Kevin Raye (who had run ten years earlier), 58%–42%.^[23] He won every county except Washington, the location of Raye's hometown of Perry.

Michaud was the only freshman Democratic member of Congress to vote for the 2003 ban on intact dilation and extraction (IDX), often called partial-birth abortion.^{[citation needed]} However, Michaud's stance on abortion and related reproductive issues has changed since he entered office.^{[citation needed]} When he was elected in 2003, he received a 10% rating by the NARAL Pro Choice America, a reflection of anti-abortion votes; between 2010 and 2013, the same organization gave Michaud a 100% rating.^[24] This change is likely in part because of the votes Michaud made in favor of allowing and expanding stem cell research, and his vote against banning abortion from federal health care coverage.^{[citation needed]}

Mike Michaud has been an advocate for veterans for as long as he has served in Congress. As Chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Michaud has advocated for more extensive healthcare benefits for veterans and also for more inclusive rural healthcare for veterans.^{[citation needed]} In 2007 Michaud came close to being elected Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.^{[citation needed]} He has also called for lowering the cost of prescription drugs.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Michaud has worked to pass legislation providing scholarships for returning soldiers, and decreasing the rate of homelessness among veterans.^{[citation needed]} Recently, Michaud became an original cosponsor of "Hiring our Veterans Act" which gives tax credits to employers who hire veterans.^{[citation needed]} Michaud has worked with the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) on many projects.^{[citation needed]} These include a scholarship foundation for children of soldiers killed in active duty, an expansion of VA care in rural Maine, and a major increase in VA funding.^{[citation needed]}

On May 29, 2014, Michaud called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki in response to problems in the Veterans Health Administration regarding long wait times and coverups of poor performance.^[25] He had faced criticism on this issue from his opponents in the Governor's race.^[25]

In addition to veterans' health, Michaud has been supporting healthcare on a larger scale.^{[citation needed]} He has voted in favor of increased health coverage for children, and voted against cuts to Medicare.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, he received a 100% rating from the American Public Health Association, along with favorable ratings from other healthcare groups.^{[citation needed]} Michaud joined a group of 44 congressmen in November 2011 to express the importance of men's being screened for prostate cancer.^{[citation needed]} This bipartisan group was formed after the United States Preventive Task Force recommended that healthy men should not have such a screening.^{[citation needed]}

Michaud is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives.^{[citation needed]} He was the only Congressperson from New England in the coalition. On October 19, 2007, he endorsed former Senator John Edwards for president.^{[citation needed]}

Michaud has a strong record of voting in support of environmental issues.^[26] Michaud voted no on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling, on barring the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, on scheduling permitting for new oil refineries, on authorizing construction of new oil refineries, on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy, and on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy.^[26] Michaud voted yes on enforcing limits on CO₂ global warming pollution by requiring utilities to supply an increasing percentage of their demand from a combination of energy efficiency savings and renewable energy, on tax credits for renewable electricity with PAYGO offsets, on tax incentives for energy production and conservation, on tax incentives for renewable energy, on investing in homegrown biofuel, on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC, on removing oil and gas exploration subsidies, and on keeping moratorium on offshore oil drilling.^[26] Furthermore, Michaud co-sponsored a bill in 2005 to establish greenhouse gas tradeable allowances; the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works but, however, it never came to vote.^[26] He also co-sponsored a bill in 2008 to allow states to define stricter greenhouse gas emission standards than those specified by the federal Clean Air Act.^[26] In keeping with his voting record, Michaud adopted a Blue Dog Coalition press release to balance fossil fuels and viable renewable energy.^[26] Campaign for America's Future (CAF) has given Michaud a score of 100% on energy issues.^[26]

Michaud was briefly mentioned in Maine native author Stephen King's work, 11/22/63.

• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Health (Ranking member)
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Finance and Tax
  • Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

• Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus
• Congressional Biomass Caucus
• Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine
• Congressional Nursing Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Renewable Energy Caucus
• Sudan Caucus
• Congressional Cement Caucus

On June 13, 2013, Michaud announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to enter the 2014 race for Governor of Maine. His campaign announced on August 14 that he would officially enter the race the next day.^[7][27][28]

Michaud won the Democratic primary unopposed. He lost the general election to incumbent Republican Paul LePage by a larger than expected margin, in part due to the unknown popularity of LePage, an alleged massive Republican wave that took place nationwide, and a third-party candidate splitting votes.^{[29][30][31][32]}

He was succeeded in Congress by Republican Bruce Poliquin in January 2015.

The United States Department of Labor announced on July 30, 2015, that President Barack Obama nominated Michaud to a department position dealing with training and employment of veterans.^[33]

Michaud served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training from December 2, 2015, to January 20, 2017. As the head of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), Michaud reported to Secretary of Labor Tom Perez. VETS serves as the focal point in the federal government for veterans' employment by preparing military service members for transition to civilian employment, providing veterans with services to assist them in getting good jobs, protecting veterans' employment rights, and promoting veterans' employment in the private sector.^[34]

In 2018, he was elected to the Board of Selectmen in East Millinocket, his hometown.^[35]

On March 28, 2019, Michaud was nominated by Gov. Janet Mills to serve as a trustee on both the board of the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System.^[36]

Michaud endorsed Michael Bloomberg as a nominee for President of the United States in the 2020 Maine Democratic primary.^[37]

Michaud came out as gay in an editorial released to the Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, and the Associated Press on November 4, 2013; however he stated that he has never had a romantic partner.^[38][39] He is the first openly LGBT congressman to serve the state of Maine; he was one of seven then-current members of the United States House of Representatives to be openly LGBT, and one of eight in either house of Congress. If he had been elected Governor, he would have become the first openly gay Governor in the United States at the time of his election (Gov. Jim McGreevey of New Jersey came out after he had taken office). Michaud served as a Grand Marshal for the 2014 Portland Pride Parade on June 21.^[40]

• List of LGBT members of the United States Congress

• Mike Michaud at Curlie
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch
• Past President of the Maine Senate
• Appearances on C-SPAN