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Garrrett Mason- Segment 2 · Newsradio WGAN

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For more than 20 years, Inside Maine has connected you with the
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states top voices, diving deep into the political stories
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shaping our lives on 98.5 FM, AM 560 and wgan.com.
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Welcome back to INSIDE Maine. I'm your host, Aaron Chadbourne.
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Thank you so much for being with us on this gubernatorially
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focused episode of Inside Main. Our next guest is someone I've
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been trying to get on for a while.
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Excited to have him here on the show.
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He is former state senator and current candidate for governor,
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Garrett Mason. Senator, thanks for joining us
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on Inside Main. Hey.
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Aaron, thanks for having me. So, Garrett, you've obviously
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run for governor before. Why don't you tell people like,
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why is it that you're running this time?
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What's gotten into you and why are you still seeking this job?
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Yeah, you know, well, you know, as you mentioned, former state
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senator served from 2010 to 2018.
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And as you well know, Aaron, because you were there, we made
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incredible progress during that time.
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You know, we lowered people's income taxes.
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I'm the only person in the race who's actually can say that I
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was part of that. You know, we, we made progress
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on school choice, which you know, goes to CT ES and virtual
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learning and, you know, moving us into the next century of
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education. We made progress on virtually
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every metric that makes a state and an economy better.
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And unfortunately, from 2018 until today, I've had the
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opportunity to watch as Democrats and Janet Mills have
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made every wrong decision and have put us in the place that we
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are. And so I I really couldn't sit
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by and watch anymore. I've been blessed to have
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experience in the legislature, experience in the private
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sector, and I think that's what we need in Maine's next
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governor. We don't have time time for any
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on the job training and I'm the only candidate on our side that
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doesn't need any. And so that's why I jumped in,
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and that's why I'm hoping that come June 9th, voters will take
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a look at me and rank me first. And that's an argument, by the
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way, that I make quite a bit to people, You know, for people
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that are outside of the government, they don't realize
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that government, the state budget, it's basically a foreign
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language. And you need to learn it.
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You need to know it. And I think that was one of the
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things that held Governor LePage back in his first term.
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And you'll recall I joined in the second term, in his first
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term, he didn't have people working for him that had come
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from government because Democrats had been in charge of
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it for so long. And so it took them a while to
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kind of like figure out how to navigate.
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And I think you're you're right to point out that having that
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experience is very valuable to being able to actually get
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things done, Which brings me to my second question for you.
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One of the people that texted in to ask what questions I should
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ask. You said, OK, I've heard Garrett
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on the debate stage with the other candidates, but I'm trying
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to understand, like, what would he actually do?
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What would he get done? What would having Garrett Mason
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as governor mean for the state of Maine?
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Well, I think it means the continuation of the agenda that
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we started back in, in the time frame that I was there.
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I mean, the Republican position hasn't changed on the way that
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we think Maine needs to go. You know it.
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We haven't been shy about the fact that the greatest thing
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that we could do for Maine people is eliminate the income
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tax, give you your own money back.
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Don't work for the government, work for yourself and your
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family. And that's something that only I
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in this race know how to do. I mean, you know, you look at
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what's happened with the state budget.
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We pull about four depending on the year, 4 to $5 billion of our
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budget revenue comes from the income tax.
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Well, shockingly enough, Janet Mills has increased the budget
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by more than that. So we know that there's room for
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for a reduction in the income tax to hopefully elimination
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over the 2 terms that I hope to serve as governor.
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You know, you have to do that by cutting spending.
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I mean, there's very huge differences between the
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priorities Republicans have and the ones that Democrats have.
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We fought hard against the expansion of Mainecare, and we
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did that for good reason, because we knew that it would
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make healthcare overall completely unaffordable.
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And look at where we are now. There's hundreds of millions of
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dollars in Medicaid, spent Medicaid spending that is
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completely inappropriate. You know, when we were working
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in the legislature, we wanted to make sure that that was reserved
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for the truly needy people. And it is not.
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It's given out for free like candy to anybody who who can
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qualify in some bizarre category.
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You know, we have to continue to cut solar subsidies and wind
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subsidies. Right now in my hometown, I am
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staring at a solar field at a park and ride next to our next
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to our amazing walking trails. It's a complete eyesore.
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It's stopping the production of food and it's encouraging
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farmers not to farm. So you're, you know, you're
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giving away money for expensive energy and making groceries more
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expensive. You have to continue to cut the
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budget. And there's so many ways that we
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can do that. I just listed about 1/2 a
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billion dollars in cuts right there.
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And I want to give that back to Maine people.
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You know, we we also need to continue to move the ball on
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education. We need to prepare our workforce
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for the coming AI surge. That's something I'm very, very
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concerned about. And as someone who served the
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Education and Cultural Affairs Committee and little known fact
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went to college originally to be a kindergarten teacher, I'm very
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concerned about that. You know, we have a completely
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new economy that my, my daughter and others their age are going
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to walk into that we are not preparing them for.
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I'm so I'm, I'm very curious, you know, I'm very interested in
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that. So I mean, those are the type of
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things that I'm interested in. But overall, we can't accomplish
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any of these goals if Maine isn't more affordable.
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And that means lower housing prices, lower grocery costs,
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lower energy costs. We have to pursue the
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affordability agenda. And those are the things I'm
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going to be focused on when I'm governor.
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Well, some would argue that being Majority Leader in the
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Senate is a lot like being a kindergarten teacher, Garrett.
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So maybe that was good training for you.
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So obviously, when you were there, right, you were there
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during a couple different iterations of what the
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legislature looked like, you had Republican control of the Senate
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the entire time. If you were to be governor, it's
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likely that there would probably be some sort of divided control.
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I think the Senate is going to be very hard for Republicans to
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win back. The House is probably, it's
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possible and, and with a strong, I think the Senate's going to be
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tough though with the current map, but maybe, maybe you could
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do it. But what if, what if you have
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divided government like this is the hard part?
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I don't see because the Democrats, the, you've been in
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the building since you last served and you've seen the
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change that's taking place in that party.
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You've seen the change that's taking place from their
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policies. You've seen the changes taking
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part in their behavior. It's a lot harder to work with
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them now than it was then. How do you actually get any of
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these priorities done? Well, and you mentioned a really
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good point. I have been in every iteration,
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every combination of government that you can be in, in Augusta.
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When we came in, in 2010, I was in the Republican trifecta.
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Nobody in this race, and quite frankly, very few people alive,
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and I don't mean any disrespect, have ever been in that position
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in Maine. And, you know, we move the ball
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forward on a lot of stuff. And then you Fast forward two
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years and the Senate loses control.
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The House loses control, but we still had Governor Le Page.
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And then, you know, we ended up gaining the Senate back but
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couldn't quite win the House back during that time.
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So I have been in every iteration of government and I
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can tell you that every single time with Government Le Page at
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the helm, we achieved a 2/3 budget.
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We achieved a 2/3 budget. And that's because you have the
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force of the executive and the veto pen that brings people
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alongside pretty quick, especially when they're in the
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when they're in the opposing party.
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And so just that dynamic alone will force that shift.
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And that would have happened if Republicans were in control
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under the Mills administration. That same dynamic would have
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played out. So some of it is just politics.
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You can have a Republican governor that you have to work
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with in order to get the budget passed.
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Secondly, a personal relationships with a lot of
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these people in the legislature. I've known them for a long time,
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and it's a lot harder for them to say no to me than it is to
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somebody that they've never met and they've turned into a
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caricature on TV. You know, I am making a
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different argument than other people in this race.
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I'm not from the outside. I've never claimed.
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I've never claimed anything else.
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I think that we are in a position in history and as you
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just pointed out, a position in the legislature where we may not
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be in the majority on everything.
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And what I'm hearing from my opponent is they just assume
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that we're going to have a Republican legislature.
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You have to have somebody in the Blaine House who knows how to
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operate in the case that we don't.
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And I've proven that I can. Does it bother you when some of
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your opponents attack you for being a lobbyist and come after
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you like that? It's something that you know is,
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is, is. I've heard you use it as
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something that you think qualifies you to be governor.
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And people are saying, well, you're just kind of a hired gun
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in a mercenary. Are you going to sell out your
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values? Does it bother you when they
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attack you for that? I mean, listen, in politics, you
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have to grow a thick skin. People say a lot of things about
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you when you run for office that just aren't true.
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But, you know, I do think that it's a little bit unfair.
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I mean, we pointed this. We pointed this out on the stage
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the other night. I mean, you know, I, I have a
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lot of respect for almost everybody in the Republican
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race. And I think most of them would
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make a, a great governor compared to what we have right
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now. But, you know, I think just
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claiming that you're from the outside and that you're ACEO
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does not make you prepared to lead government.
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I mean, the, you know, the see ACEO, their responsibility is to
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their shareholders and their responsibility is to make sure
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they make as much money, bring in as much revenue into their
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business as they can to, you know, make the stock price go
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up. I respect that.
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That is not what I'm interested in as governor.
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I'm interested in pulling in as little revenue as possible to
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fund the government at exactly the right level.
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I'm not interested in taking more money from people than I
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need. I want to send it back to them
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as quick as possible. And you know, but I don't
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disrespect that experience as COI think it's a valuable tool,
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but it's not the be all end all. It's just not government does
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not operate like a like a business does, as you just
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mentioned, you know, it just doesn't, it's very, very
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different beast. And I don't know many, I don't
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know many businesses that are responsible to a board of
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directors of 186 people elected by different communities around
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the state. It's just, it's just vastly
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different. But I don't disrespect their
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experience. And I think that's the
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difference. Like, you know, yeah, I've been
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inside the, I've been inside the room, but I want to be inside
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the room for Maine people. You're listening to INSIDE
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Maine. I'm your host, Aaron Chadbourne.
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We're speaking with candidate for governor, Republican Garrett
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Mason. He's the former Senate, I guess,
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Republican Majority Leader of the Senate.
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Is that the right term? That's correct.
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All right, so one of the things you mentioned a minute ago is
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that you were in the legislature when Republicans controlled the
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House, the Senate and the governor's office.
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What do you think was the biggest missed opportunity, the
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thing that they failed to get done then that they should have
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done when they had all of the levers of power?
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You know, I think this is just a function of who was there.
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I mean, literally no one that was in the legislature at that
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time had been, you know, in a leadership position and
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understood what you could and couldn't do.
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I think one of the greatest opportunities we missed,
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especially fast forwarding to what the Democrats have done to
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Republicans for eight years, is we should have passed the
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majority budget in that first term.
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You know, we just, we didn't have our feet underneath US.
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Governor Le Page was handed John Baldacci's fifth budget and you
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know, we had to work off of that.
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Think we should have passed a majority budget while we had the
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trifecta. But the other thing I think we
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missed, I think it would have made a huge difference in
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funding for education is we should have passed a statewide
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teachers contract. I think it would have stabilized
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education costs. It would have made salaries for
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teachers fairer and, and I would argue higher and I think it
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would have made a real difference and making sure that
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no matter where you live, you got a great public education.
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But I. Think it makes sense for the
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state to pay for the teachers, right?
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Like they would be a very, it's a very clear argument.
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As you know, I worked very hard on that.
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And Democrats did not work with us in good faith.
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The teachers union did not work with us in good faith because,
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and this is funny, like the reason why and this is what
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people don't get to see. The reason why is the president
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of the the teachers association said with the teachers union.
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She said, will the governor say nice things about us?
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And I said to her, I was like, listen, Lois, like I work for
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the guy and I deliver more for him than almost anyone, and he
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doesn't say nice things about me.
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If that's why you're doing it, you're in the wrong work, right?
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Like, what are you doing? Like, will this be better for
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teachers? The answer is yes.
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And should they agreed it was better for teachers, but they
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wouldn't do it because they didn't want him to get credit,
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which I thought was really, really regrettable.
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Yeah. Well, it's funny, Aaron, you
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know, you mentioned that and you know, you have, you have
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Democrats on stage and debate now arguing that we should have
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some sort of grading system for public schools.
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I mean, Angus King talked about that in debate.
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I remember when we rolled that out when we were, you know, in
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the administer in the administration with the
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Republicans in the legislature, you would have thought that the
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world had ended. And now you have Democrats
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advocating for that on some sort of statewide level.
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I mean, they, you know, it just depends on who.
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That's a very good example of like what you're dealing with
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with the head of the teachers unions is they just, they want
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to be patted on the back and, you know, topped on, you know, a
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little tap on the head and make them feel good.
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It's not about kids at all. It's about it's about their own
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ego, which is what I've run into with them for many years.
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So one of the texters points out that a minute ago you said that
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most of them would make a good governor.
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Is there someone you think wouldn't?
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Yeah, but I'll keep that to myself for now.
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So let's assume the other day you were asked if you would rank
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Bobby Charles and you said nobody raised their hand.
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So what? We're going to assume that you
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were critical of him because people have positioned him as
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the front runner other than your experience in state government
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and that he's an outsider. What do you think is the biggest
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difference that sets you apart, makes you more qualified than
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Bobby Charles? Well, I think, you know, I think
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when you look at Bobby Charles record, I think it's, it's
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pretty clear, you know, when I was in charge of any government
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budget, which, you know, as the state senator, you get to
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negotiate that. And as a leader, you certainly
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have some say in that. You know, we, we decreased
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spending, you know, we, we lowered spending across in, in
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state government. We lowered people's taxes.
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We made government more affordable.
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We set, you know, the path towards cheaper energy, which
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unfortunately the Democrats have undone.
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But, you know, when Bobby Charles was in charge of it, he
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exploded it. In fact, he doubled the budget
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that he was in control of at the State Department.
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And it was so bad that an Inspector General report thought
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it was one of it was bizarre that he was even taking taking
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that he was even taking credit for it in this campaign.
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So I mean, Bobby Charles, when he had control in government,
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did exactly what Janet Mills did and exploded spending and turned
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it into a complete failure. I also think there's something
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to be said about honesty in in debate.
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You know, I think there's a lot of things that are coming out of
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the Charles campaign that just are patently fault.
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And I think that's really unfortunate.
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It's one thing to debate differences and it's a
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completely different thing to just flat out say untruth.
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And I think there's a lot of that going on.
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I don't know if Bobby knows about that or not.
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He doesn't come to debate. He doesn't really, you know,
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he's conveniently sick at a lot of different things he doesn't
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show up for. So I'm not sure if he's in his
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basement or where he is, but but the fact remains, I mean, he
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he's his campaign sending out a lot of stuff about all the
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candidates that just aren't true.
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Our mutual friend, former gubernatorial candidate Mary
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Adams, she said that when she ran for governor, by the end of
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the race, you get sick of everybody and that you can,
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like, finish their speeches. You know what they say at the
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beginning, you all start out as friends.
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At the end, you kind of can't stand each other.
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And so I've always kind of kept that in perspective when I
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watched these campaigns. Well, I will say this, at the
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GME debate the other night, I think it was either Ben Midsley
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or Jonathan Bush who who brought up that we could do some sort of
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version of karaoke where we do each other's campaign speeches.
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So, you know, they definitely, you know, we definitely could do
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that. When I was working with Adrian
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Bennett on her campaign, we would sometimes have her use
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Eric Brakey's lines before he would, and it would throw him
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because, you know, she could do it because she's a
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communications professional. So she'd just like, slip in one
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of his lines and he would be thrown The whole rest of the
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event. It was just, you know, you got
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to do things to energy yourself. Gary, one thing, one thing I did
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want to ask you about. Last time you ran for governor,
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you ran clean elections, taxpayer funded.
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This time you're running traditional.
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Do you regret that? Do you think it was a mistake to
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to use taxpayer funds last time? No, I don't.
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You know, I think, you know, it was a decision we made.
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And in politics, you have to make decisions about, you know,
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about how you can best win and how you can, you know what,
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what's the cards that you have? And I think I think Republicans
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sometimes look at systems like clean elections and others and
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they tie their own hands behind their back and just say, oh,
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well, we're not going to do that.
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But they yet they get beat upside the head by Democrats who
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have implemented that system. I mean, you know, we look at,
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you know, we look at elections and I don't think anybody, no
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leader in the Republican side would ever say that none of
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their candidates for the legislature should use clean
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elections while they're getting beat upside the head by
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Democrats who are. So I mean, this is a system that
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has been adopted by main voters, I think 3 times over the past 30
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years. And no, I don't regret the
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decision. It's one we made and it's one we
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stuck with and got me, got me to 2nd place, but not quite the
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1st. And.
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We're almost out of time, but what has been the biggest
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difference for you running this time versus last time?
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How does it feel different? What's different?
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I'm older man. I'm.
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Older, I imagine less leave with a child at home too.
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Yeah, that's, that's true. No, I mean, I think this time
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it's it's just when I ran last time I was, I was young, you
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know, I was eight years younger than I am now.
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I was 3233 years old being 40 years old, being a husband,
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father, you know, my, my wife and I have started a couple of
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businesses, sold a few too. And you know, just like more
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life experience. And I think that I think that
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matters in this race. I think it matters that you have
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all kinds of experience, a mix of real world experience and,
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and that's what I bring to the table.
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And I think that's what makes me different.
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So we've got about a minute left.
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What's the final thing you would want people to know about your
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campaign? If they haven't made a decision
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yet, they're just hearing about you for the first time, what do
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you want to leave them with? So I want him to go to my
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website masonfrommaine.com and you can learn learn more about
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me there. And you can also watch my
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podcast where I I talk a lot, all kinds of different issues.
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I thought the podcast was great. I was hoping you were going to
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be relaunching this podcast. I thought you did a very good
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job. I think you you'd be great at
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it. This governor thing doesn't work
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out. I was like, heck, all this money
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he's raising for governor, he's just raising and do this
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podcast. You'd be great at it.
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You're AI think a really good communicator.
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You had good presence. Not that I'm trying to talk
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myself into more competition or out of a job, but I think you'd
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be great at it. Ah, hey, you know what, like in
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communication, there's always, there's always room for more.
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But no, I think if you go on there, you learn a lot about
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where I stand. And I think the bottom line for
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my race is we don't have time for on the job training or if
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we're going to, if we're going to elect a Republican governor,
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we need somebody who's ready well before day one, and I am.
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Former state Senator Garrett Maze, and he's a Republican
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running for governor. Garrett, what's your website One
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more time if people want to check you out.
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It's Mason for maine.com. Garrett, thanks so much for
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joining us on Inside Maine. Great to talk to you.
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Good luck out there. Thank you.
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Thank you. Bye bye.
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You're listening to INSIDE Maine.
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I'm your host, Aaron Chadborn. That was state Senator Garrett
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Mason. He's one of the Republicans who
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will be on the ballot on June. I think we said the 9th is the
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primary. I think absentee ballot requests
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are open now if you want to get them.
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And so that was Garrett. This podcast, if you didn't hear
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the whole thing, we'll put it on the website.
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It'll be on wjn.com under podcast.
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Go to Inside Main. When we come back, we'll go to
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the other side of the aisle and talk to Democrat Angus King, the
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third also competing to be governor.
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Continue to send me your text, 879-9426.
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Let me know what you want to ask.
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We'll have Angus King when we return on Inside MAIN.
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I'm Aaron Chadbourne.