Michael D. Thibodeau (born July 16, 1966) is an American politician and businessman from Maine. He was a Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

from

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 ...

's 23rd District, representing all of Waldo County. He graduated from

Hampden Academy Hampden Academy is a public high school located at 89 Western Avenue in Hampden, Maine, United States. The school is a part of Regional School Unit #22 (R.S.U. 22), with approximately 708 students from Hampden, Newburgh, Frankfort and Winterp ...

in 1984. He was first elected to the Maine State Senate in 2010 after serving from 2006 to 2010 as state representative. He also served on the board of selectmen of Winterport.

Career

In 2006, Thibodeau defeated Winterport Charter Commissioner Donna Gilbert after Rep. Jeffrey Kaelin withdrew. He ran as a

Clean Elections A publicly funded election is an election funded with money collected through income tax donations or taxes as opposed to private or corporate-funded campaigns. In 1974, following the Watergate scandal, the U.S. Congress revised the Federal Ele ...

candidate. In 2008, Thibodeau, running as an incumbent, was narrowly re-elected over Seth Yentes after spending nearly $10,000 of his own money and over $13,000 overall on his re-election campaign. An outspoken critic of

same-sex marriage in Maine Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Maine since December 29, 2012. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was approved by voters, 53–47 percent, on November 6, 2012, as Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first U ...

, Thibodeau voted against a 2009 bill to legalize it, saying "Let’s be honest. This isn’t about

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. It’s about a social agenda that tears at the very fabric of our society". In 2010, Thibodeau sought District 23 in the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the st ...

, where he sought to replace fellow Republican Carol Weston. Running as a clean elections candidate, defeated fellow state representative and former House Majority Leader John Piotti with 54% of the vote in the two-way race. In 2012, he successfully sought re-election. Following the election, which featured Republicans losing control of both the state senate and house of representatives, Thibodeau was named Republican minority leader of the Maine Senate. Thibodeau announced on December 3, 2013, that he was considering entering the 2014 Second District congressional race. Upon his party obtaining the majority in the November 4, 2014 legislative elections, Thibodeau was chosen to be Senate President when the new legislative session begins on December 3, 2014. Thibodeau was reelected Senate President after his party held their majority, albeit a two-seat loss to the Democrats. On October 17, 2017, Thibodeau announced his run for the 2018 Maine gubernatorial election. On March 26, 2018, it was announced that Thibodeau had withdrawn from the 2018 Maine Gubernatorial Election.

References

, - , - , - 1966 births Businesspeople from Maine Living people Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Minority leaders of the Maine Senate People from Winterport, Maine Hampden Academy alumni 21st-century members of the Maine Legislature {{Maine-MESenate-stub