Asher Platts
Asher Platts was a 2014 Green Independent candidate for District 27 of the Maine State Senate.
Biography
Platts says he has "worked many low-wage jobs, in factories, food service, etc." and "Understand first-hand what it is to be working and poor." He served as assistant producer on the 2012 documentary film about the Occupy Movement called "American Autumn,", is Chair of the Maine Green Independent Party and has been involved with Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Maine, and GreenChange.org.[1]
Issues
In his first time running for office, Platts stated he was a "clean elections" candidate and added, "I would like to use this campaign as an opportunity to inspire others in the Occupy Movement to run for office themselves. It's not that hard to do. Reclaim democracy!"[1]
In information submitted to Ballotpedia, Platts outlined his political philosophy as follows:[1]
"I am sick and tired of working jobs where a person can work 40+ hours a week, and still make so little money that they need to get assistance from the government. If working people were given a living wage, we could drastically reduce the number of welfare recipients."
"I am sick and tired of working jobs where a person can work consistently 40+ hours a week, and then because they are a "temporary hire" can be denied benefits."
"I support worker control of the means of production, and a democratically controlled workplace, and I will pursue any legislation that puts more power in the hands of the workers, including repealing anti-strike laws."
Elections
2014
- See also: Maine State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Maine State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 10, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for party candidates wishing to run in this election was March 17, 2014. The deadline for write-in candidates to run in the primary election was April 28, 2014, and the deadline for non-party candidates to run in the general election was June 2, 2014. District 8 incumbent Justin Alfond was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Peter Doyle was unopposed in the Republican primary. Alfond defeated Doyle and Asher Platts (G) in the general election.[2][3][4][5]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Justin Alfond Incumbent |
64.4% | 11,376 | |
| Green | Asher Platts | 16.1% | 2,852 | |
| Republican | Peter Doyle | 14.8% | 2,612 | |
| None | Blank Votes | 4.7% | 827 | |
| Total Votes | 17,667 | |||
2012
- See also: Maine State Senate elections, 2012
Platts ran in the 2012 election for Maine State Senate District 8. He was defeated by incumbent Justin Alfond (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Justin Alfond Incumbent |
70.8% | 12,672 | |
| Green | Asher Platts | 29% | 5,185 | |
| Republican | John M. Brown | 0.3% | 48 | |
| Total Votes | 17,905 | |||
Campaign themes
2012
Platt identified the following four main issues of his campaign:[1]
- Tax the Rich: "Corporations here in the state of Maine MAKE money on their tax returns, meaning that working people are effectively paying their CEO's a welfare check out of their income taxes. We need to end corporate welfare. Maine's Top income tax tier kicks in at $30,000/yr. That's about your average teacher's salary. Which means that here in Maine, we tax millionaire's the same rate as we tax teachers. That's absurd. We need more tax brackets, and we need a progressive taxation system, where the more you earn, the bigger a percentage of every additional dollar you earn, you pay."
- Universal College Education: "Education is an investment. Education is a RIGHT. I currently have over $28,000 in student debt and struggle to pay my loans back because I cannot find employment that pays well enough for me to afford the $400 a month I pay in interest alone. I am not alone-- there are thousands like me. Maine's public university system should be fully funded, and education should not be a debt sentence."
- Single Payer Healthcare: "I have known too many people who have died from preventable and treatable illness because they either could not afford insurance, or were kicked off their insurance plans for "preexisting conditions." The healthcare system in the USA is barbarically antiquated. 30% of every dollar spent on private insurance goes to overhead. 1% of every dollar spent on Medicare goes to overhead. We could expand Medicare and cover everyone. It would be cheaper, and it would be more effective."
- Create a State Bank:"Austerity is a sham. There's all this talk of how "we don't have any money" and yet 90% of the money in our economy doesn't even exist except as numbers on a balance sheet being being bounced from financial institution to financial institution. If we create a State Bank with democratic oversight, so that we can reclaim our fiscal sovereignty from Wall Street, and then simply Tax the Rich (who abuse the labor of working people), we'll have all the money we need to make ends meet and beyond."
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Asher + Platts + Maine + Senate"
See also
- Maine State Senate
- Maine State Senate elections, 2014
- Maine State Legislature
- Maine State Senate District 27
External links
- Official campaign website
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Platt's blog, "Punk Patriot"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Biographical information submitted to Ballotpedia, June 13, 2012
- ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "List of Primary Candidates," accessed May 8, 2014
- ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "List of Non-Party Candidates," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "Primary Election - June 10, 2014," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "General Election - November 4, 2014," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Maine Secretary of State, "Primary Candidate List," accessed June 12, 2012
