David Slagger (born June 22, 1962) is a

Maliseet The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...

politician in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Slagger served as a member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

, representing the newly recognized Maliseet Tribe. Slagger was sworn-in as the appointed representative to the House of Representatives on January 4, 2012. He held the seat temporarily until a tribal election could be conducted to elect a Maliseet Tribal Representative, which the Maliseet Tribe then did on December 22, 2012 when tribal members elected Henry John Bear as their first elected Tribal Representative to the Maine House of Representatives. Slagger did not seek another term as Maliseet representative. Slagger was one of three non-voting representatives from Maine's Native American tribes in the House of Representatives. Representatives from each tribe are all elected by tribal members. Slagger did not seek another term as the Maliseet representative due to the limitations placed on tribal representatives, including the inability to vote and sponsor bills without co-sponsors. Slagger was humiliated when, during a tie vote in the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee on which he sat, Slagger's deciding vote was recorded but cast aside by the committee chair. In May 2012, Slagger announced a bid for the non-tribal seat in which he lived, District 22. Still running as a non-party (independent) candidate, he challenged incumbent Republican incumbent Stacy Guerin with no Democrat in the race. He received 1,299 votes (26%) and lost.

Gubernatorial campaign

In February 2013, Slagger formed a campaign committee to run for

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

as a Democrat. In April, Slagger enrolled as a Green Independent and began seeking the Maine Green Independent Party's nomination. Shortly thereafter, Slagger unenrolled as a Green Independent and continued his run as an unenrolled candidate for Governor. Slagger did not qualify for the November 2014 ballot as an independent.

Personal

Slagger grew up in

Aroostook County, Maine Aroostook County ( ; ) is the northernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maine. It is located along the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 67,105. The county ...

and lives in Kenduskeag in Penobscot County with his wife (a

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

) and their three children. In September 2005, Slagger, a non-traditional undergraduate at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, was awarded an internship at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

in Washington, D.C. At the time of his swearing-in in 2012, Slagger was a doctoral candidate at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slagger, David 1962 births Living people Wolastoqiyik people Members of the Maine House of Representatives People from Kenduskeag, Maine University of Maine alumni Native American state legislators in Maine Maine independents Native American people from Maine Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians 21st-century members of the Maine Legislature