Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.

Fred Horch

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Fred Horch
Image of Fred Horch

Green Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Swarthmore College, 1991

Law

University of California, Berkeley, 1995

Personal
Birthplace
New Haven, Conn.
Religion
Episcopalian
Profession
Business co-founder
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Fred Horch (Green Party) ran for election to the Maine House of Representatives to represent District 49. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Horch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Fred Horch was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He earned a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College in 1991. He earned a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995. Horch's career experience includes working as a co-founder with Spark Applied Efficiency, as an operator with F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, as an attorney, as corporate counsel with TriNet Services, as a project coordinator with Maine Interfaith Power & Light, and as a legal editor with Nolo Press. He has been affiliated with Rotary International. He has served as a master gardener volunteer with the University of Maine Extension Service, and as a volunteer with Brunswick High School.[1]

Elections

2020

See also: Maine House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Maine House of Representatives District 49

Poppy Arford defeated Fred Horch in the general election for Maine House of Representatives District 49 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Poppy Arford
Poppy Arford (D) Candidate Connection
 
51.9
 
3,321
Image of Fred Horch
Fred Horch (G) Candidate Connection
 
48.1
 
3,073

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 6,394
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for Maine House of Representatives District 49

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Poppy Arford in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,169
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Republican primary election

Republican Primary for Maine House of Representatives District 49

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Carole Stover Graves in round 1 .

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 397
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Green primary election

Green Primary for Maine House of Representatives District 49

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Fred Horch in round 1 .

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 63
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Endorsements

To view Horch's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

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 10 incumbent Stanley Gerzofsky was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Jennifer Johnson was unopposed in the Republican primary. Gerzofsky defeated Johnson and Frederick Horch (G) in the general election.[2][3][4][5]

Maine State Senate District 24, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngStanley Gerzofsky Incumbent 46.3% 9,779
     Republican Jennifer Johnson 32.8% 6,933
     Green Fred Horch 16.7% 3,518
     None Blank Votes 4.2% 892
Total Votes 21,122

2012

See also: Maine House of Representatives elections, 2012

Horch ran in the 2012 election for Maine House of Representatives District 66. Horch replaced the previous Green Party candidate, David Frans, who withdrew after the primary. He was defeated byMatthea Daughtry (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6]

Maine House of Representatives, District 66, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMatthea Daughtry Incumbent 45.7% 2,135
     Republican Grant Connors 21.8% 1,019
     Green K. Frederick Horch 32.5% 1,519
Total Votes 4,673

2010

See also: Maine House of Representatives elections, 2010

Horch's opponents in the November 2 general election were Democratic incumbent Alexander Cornell du Houx and Republican candidate Jonathan Crimmins. Cornell du Houx defeated Crimmins and Horch in the November 2 general election.[7]

Campaign themes

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released September 5, 2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Fred Horch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Horch's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm Fred Horch, the Green Independent candidate for Representative to the Legislature, Maine House District 49 in Brunswick. My goal is to make Maine work better for all of us.

I've been an active citizen in Brunswick for almost twenty years. My wife Hadley and I have raised our family in Brunswick. My business partners and I have grown our company here. I have served on the boards of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and the Rotary Club of Brunswick. For many years I operated a store called F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies on Maine Street in downtown Brunswick. Before starting my own businesses, I was an attorney. I earned my undergraduate degree in political science with the concentration in international relations and computer science from Swarthmore College. I earned my law degree from UC Berkeley. I passed the bar exam in North Carolina and joined the bar there.

I am a Green Independent because I stand for social justice, grassroots democracy, mutual peace and a healthy environment. I believe I can do a better job as an independent legislator that I could as a member of either major party.
  • If you want more of the same, I'm not your guy - but if you want a better future, join me and vote for a change.
  • I stand for social justice, grassroots democracy, mutual peace and a healthy environment - and you can count on me to stand for these values on every vote.
  • If you trust my judgement, share my values, and like my ideas, vote for me.
I personally passionate about sustainability: how to treat each other and our planet with respect, so that everyone can enjoy a healthy, happy and fulfilling life on Earth. My overall goal is to make Maine work better for everyone. I see better solutions for how we do our state budget, especially with regard to funding for education; how we develop a stronger and more sustainable economy, especially with regard to energy policy; and how we ensure access to essential and excellent health care for everyone who needs it, especially with regard to insurance coverage. I'm also passionate about solving problems. I see our state government doing many things that waste time and money: I'm passionate about improving the efficiency of our state government so we can get more done with each tax dollar.

One more policy area that I'm passionate about is to bring more perspectives into policy debates in a productive way. I believe that our current two-party system is not serving us well because it is too susceptible to control by wealthy people. Major party politicians stand to gain much more by serving the interests of wealthy people than poor people. Maine's clean election system is a great first step. Electing more clean-election independents to the legislature is an important next step.
Angus King is an incredibly talented politician. I admire his style, command of the facts, and calm demeanor, and aspire to follow his example as an effective independent leader for Maine.
I recommend someone who wants to understand my political philosophy to visit my website at horch2020.org and watch the YES on Fred series of videos.
The most important characteristics for an elected official are a connection to community, character (especially integrity), shared values, knowledge, independence and a vision for a better future.
I believe my community service, character and integrity, values, knowledge, commitment to sustainability, independence and vision will make me a successful officeholder. I will promote social justice, grassroots democracy, mutual peace and a healthy environment. These are widely shared values that can be translated into effective legislation and public investments.
The core responsibilities for a Representative to the Legislature are to decide what the laws of Maine should be and how we should spend our tax dollars. According to the Legislator's Handbook for the 129th Maine Legislature, "While a legislator performs a number of different tasks, the legislator's role is essentially that of proposing, considering and enacting laws. Each year, legislators consider hundreds of proposals for state laws."
I would like people to remember me as someone with integrity who worked for a better world for everyone.
I really enjoyed Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. The scope of the question asked and the sweep of human experience involved in answering it are fascinating. I also really enjoyed Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species for the sustained argument he builds for his thesis. When I was younger, I devoured science fiction, and when I was in my twenties I made headway on the King James edition of the Bible, but as I've gotten older I've been more and more interested in non-fiction. The one thing I wish I had was more time to read!
Boy, that is a tough one! I'll have to give it more thought.
Songs don't get stuck in my head. I'm outside a lot and rarely listen to music.
I have always struggled to accomplish everything I'd like to do. I have been very fortunate to have had many opportunities and many people helping me achieve my goals. When I see problems, such as poverty and environmental destruction, I can't just accept it. I have to try to solve the problems I see. Perhaps one day I'll be at peace, but for now every day I feel like there is so much to do and so little time to do it.
The size of our two chambers is the largest difference. Our senate has relatively few members while our House has one hundred and fifty voting members plus a non-voting representative from the tribal governments. Members of both chambers represent a defined geographic district and must run for office every two years.
The answer to whether it's beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics is yes and no. Personally, I find my experience as a candidate and serving on the steering committee and treasurer of the Maine Green Independent Party to be helpful. However, I do think it's important to bring new perspectives into the process. There is a tendency to accept dysfunction when you have had to work with it for many years. I hope that I can bring some new perspective to the table as a candidate who hasn't come up through the typical path of serving on a town council or school board and then moving on up through the system to the Legislature.
Our biggest challenge is how to grow a stronger and more sustainable economy. Our energy policy, which makes us dangerously dependent on fossil fuel, makes it hard to build wealth in Maine. We are also facing difficult demographic pressures, with the oldest population in the United States. Since our economy is weaker than most other states, our young people leave for better opportunities, exacerbating our demographic challenges. Putting our economy on better footing so there are more opportunities for young people to stay in or come to our state will make Maine work better for everyone.
The ideal relationship between our governor and state legislator is one of mutual respect. We will never agree on everything, but a governor that respects the leadership of our Legislature, and legislators that respect our governor, will help Maine work better for everyone. I mentioned Angus King as an inspiration. I think he did a very good job as our governor, and part of the reason for that is his independence. It is difficult to maintain trust and respect with our party politics being so strident. I believe an independent governor would have a better chance to establish the trust and respect with the Legislature that is necessary to get major accomplishments done, such as tax reform, health insurance expansion, and infrastructure investments.
I believe it's not only beneficial but essential to build relationships with other legislators. As a deliberative body where every member has a vote, the only way to get things done is to have a productive relationship with other legislators that allows you to move legislation together.
I believe redistricting should be done by people who are not running for office. While I believe gerrymandering is a problem, I'm open to suggestions for solving it.
I would like to serve on one of these three committees:

1) Energy, Utilities and Technology
2) Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services

3) Environment and Natural Resources
I am not a current legislator.
Yes, I would be interested in being in leadership among the independent caucus.
I believe Dick Woodbury, who was also an independent, was effective. I would model myself after his ability to get along with both parties.
At this point I'm focused solely on winning a seat in the Maine House and seeing how it goes.
One story that comes to mind is the medical billing saga one resident shared with me. He had no health insurance and had surgery. The bill came to $120,000. After calling up a legislator, among other people, he began a process of negotiation. The hospital came back with an offer of $75,000, he protested, and this continued until finally he settled the bill for $1,200. I've heard many similar stories of how people have felt their bills for medical procedures have been completely ridiculous, especially if they are not insured. This is one reason I'm so committed to a health insurance plan that covers everyone in Maine. No one - not patients, not their advocates, and not the billing departments of hospitals - should have to go through the process we're currently dragging people through who are not covered by health insurance. And even when people do have health insurance, they often find that they are still stuck with huge bills and have to go through a time-consuming and stressful process to get them resolved.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Horch and his wife have three children.[8]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Fred + Horch + Maine + Senate"

Fred Horch News Feed

See also

2020 Elections

Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
What's on the ballot?
U.S. President
U.S. Congress
U.S. Congress special elections
State executives
State legislatures
State courts
Ballot measures
Municipal government
School boards
Election analysis hub

Government

Seal of Maine.png
Who represents me?
U.S. Congress
State executives
State legislators
State courts
Ballot measures
Municipal government
School boards

Newsletters

Ballotpedia RSS.jpg
Coronavirus Weekly Updates
Documenting America's Path to Recovery
The Heart of the Primaries
The Daily Brew
The Weekly Brew
The Ballot Bulletin
Checks and Balances
Economy and Society
Hall Pass
Number of the Day
Robe & Gavel
Union Station


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 8, 2020
  2. ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "List of Primary Candidates," accessed May 8, 2014
  3. ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "List of Non-Party Candidates," accessed June 2, 2014
  4. ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "Primary Election - June 10, 2014," accessed December 5, 2014
  5. ↑ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "General Election - November 4, 2014," accessed December 5, 2014
  6. ↑ Maine Secretary of State, "2012 General Election Candidate List" accessed July 31, 2012
  7. ↑ Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, "Official 2010 Election Results," accessed February 18, 2014
  8. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Fred Horch's Biography," accessed October 3, 2014


Current members of the Maine House of Representatives
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
Dean Cray (R)
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
Adam Lee (D)
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
Mana Abdi (D)
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
District 100
District 101
District 102
District 103
District 104
Amy Arata (R)
District 105
District 106
District 107
District 108
District 109
District 110
District 111
Amy Kuhn (D)
District 112
District 113
District 114
District 115
District 116
District 117
District 118
District 119
District 120
District 121
District 122
District 123
District 124
District 125
District 126
District 127
District 128
District 129
District 130
District 131
District 132
District 133
District 134
District 135
District 136
John Eder (R)
District 137
District 138
District 139
District 140
District 141
District 142
District 143
District 144
District 145
District 146
District 147
District 148
District 149
District 150
District 151
Democratic Party (76)
Republican Party (73)
Independent (1)
Unenrolled (1)


Flag of Maine
v • e
State of Maine
Augusta (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy







Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Fred_Horch&oldid=10248259"