Party affiliation:
Republican
Social media accounts:
andrewsformaine.com; @RepJohnAndrews on Facebook
Occupation:
Legislator and substitute teacher
Education:
B.A. University of New Hampshire
Community Organizations:
Vice president of Waterford Fish and Game Club; coach for Oxford Hills third/fourth grade boys lacrosse; sponsored and fundraised for many local organizations over the years.
Personal information (hobbies, etc.):
I enjoy spending time with my family, reading about history and economics and shooting IDPA pistol matches at Waterford Fish and Game Club.
Family status:
Married to Jeannette with two children
Years in the Legislature:
Four
Committee assignments (if elected):
Veterans and Legal Affairs, Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business
Q&A
Define what “success” would look like if you are elected to serve your district.
In Augusta, bureaucrats and state agencies are more powerful than elected representatives of the people. They make “rules” that hold the power of law. They never have to face re-election, term limits or answer to their constituents. This faceless bureaucracy is called the “The Administrative State.” They have become our fourth branch of government. They wield powers and authority that they were never intended to be given.
Our framers intended small and constitutionally limited government. Centralizing power into the administrative state and away from the people is unaccountable at best and out of control at worst. We must do better. Central planning is a one size fits all approach to governing, it is based on coercion under threat of government force. Ideas so good they have to be mandatory is a less than optimal paradigm. We must strive for the maximum absence of coercion from our own government.
Success would be eliminating the income tax, replacing it with nothing and starving the administrative state back into a subservient beast of burden and away from the apex predator that it is now. The government’s exponential growth paired with its lust for power, greed for its citizens’ income and its blatant disregard of our essential liberties is a threat to our American birth right — a government by, of and for the people. A government where those elected only hold power at the consent of the governed. That is our foundational contract, and we must fight to get back to that standard.
Characterize your view on public access to governmental business.
Public access to government action is filtered through a partisan media class. In 2022 we have a Fourth Estate more concerned with protecting one party and their narrative than reporting unbiased facts. That bias is either implicit or deliberate. It needs to stop. Equal coverage leads to more transparent government.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
