On The Issues
Mary Shannon Lindstrom is ready to be your independent voice in Augusta.
Mary Shannon Lindstrom has built a reputation for bringing people with different perspectives together to solve real problems. She believes that durable, effective solutions come from collaboration, listening, and finding common ground. Consensus building is at the heart of her leadership, guiding her approach to every challenge and every community conversation.
Mary believes that the core responsibilities of someone elected to public office begin with a duty to the people they serve, not to a party or political agenda. She works to create space where every voice is heard, differences are respected, and shared goals emerge—turning diverse viewpoints into collective action that strengthens the whole community.
Championing Affordability
Many Scarborough residents are feeling the strain of Maine’s high cost of living. Rising property taxes, housing costs, electricity bills and everyday essentials are making it harder for people to stay in the community they love. Strengthening affordability requires both immediate relief for households and long-term strategies that stabilize how municipalities raise and manage revenue.
Goal: Ensure that Maine communities remain livable and economically accessible by advancing policies that reduce the cost burden on households, stabilize municipal finances and create predictable, sustainable revenue streams that support essential services.
Policy position: I support exploring new, responsible revenue tools that help municipalities reduce their reliance on property taxes, one of the largest drivers of affordability challenges for Maine residents. One option worth evaluating is a local option sales tax, applied specifically to industries and purchases typically associated with tourism.
Sharing Growth Responsibly
Responsible growth is key to keeping Maine a place where families can thrive. As our communities expand, we must balance development with infrastructure and housing needed to support it while protecting our natural resources.
Goal: Ensure that Maine’s growth strengthens community wellbeing by aligning development with the infrastructure, housing and environmental protections needed to support families, local economies and the natural resources that define our state.
Policy position: I support looking at policies that encourage responsible economic development in Maine while properly managing the impacts of growth and ensuring that development reflects local values and long-term sustainability. Maine is a state that requires proactive planning, both to guide where and how communities grow and to ensure that housing remains attainable for working families. Thoughtful planning, paired with strong environmental stewardship, will help our communities expand in ways that preserve Maine’s character and keep our towns livable for generations.
Improving Education in Maine
Education is the foundation of opportunity. Scarborough’s educational needs must be clearly represented in Augusta, and state policy should strengthen Maine’s schools and support student success.
Goal: Ensure that Maine’s education system provides every student with the foundation they need to succeed by strengthening school resources, supporting educators, increasing academic proficiency statewide and ensuring Scarborough’s priorities are fully represented in statewide decisionmaking.
Policy position: I support looking at policies that strengthen public education and increase academic proficiency in Maine while ensuring Scarborough’s voice is represented in funding decisions. Maintaining high academic standards and creating strong educational opportunities for students, including access to career and technical education, early college pathways, and programs that prepare students for Maine’s workforce, is critical to Maine’s longterm success. I support efforts that give schools the tools they need to help students thrive; ensure educators are supported and expand opportunities that set young people on a path toward meaningful careers and economic stability.
Supporting Scarborough’s Seniors
Maine is the oldest state in the nation, and seniors deserve to live in a community where they can age with dignity, connection and security. Older residents should have access to policies that promote independence, wellbeing, financial stability and meaningful engagement, ensuring they feel supported, valued and able to thrive in the town they love.
Goal: Ensure that Scarborough’s seniors can age with dignity, connection and security by advancing policies that promote independence, support financial stability, strengthen access to essential services and create meaningful opportunities for engagement in the community.
Policy position: I support examining policies that increase property tax relief for seniors and additional tools that reduce the financial burden on older homeowners. Recognizing that rising costs disproportionately impact seniors on fixed incomes, I support expanding access to affordable medication and assistance programs that help older residents safely age in place. Strengthening in-home support, transportation options and community-based services is essential to ensuring seniors can remain independent, connected, and secure in the community they love.
Strengthening Healthcare Access
Access to reliable, affordable healthcare is essential to the wellbeing of every resident. Maine families deserve a system that supports preventive care, mental health, chronic condition management and timely access to needed services. A strong healthcare system helps people stay healthy, financially stable and able to receive care close to home.
Goal: Ensure that every resident has access to reliable, affordable healthcare by strengthening preventive care, expanding mental health and chronic condition supports and improving access to timely, local services that promote long-term wellbeing.
Policy position: I support looking at policies to expand access to healthcare by investing in the workforce needed to strengthen care across Maine, including preventive care, mental health services, primary care and long-term care. Healthcare policies should expand access to affordable, high-quality care and reduce barriers that prevent Mainers from getting the services they need, including in rural areas where access is often limited. Additionally, I support efforts to make healthcare more affordable, such as reducing prescription costs, so families can stay healthy and financially stable.
Protecting Reproductive Rights
Reproductive freedom is an essential right. Individuals should have the freedom to make personal decisions about their reproductive health, including a woman’s right to choose. Healthcare policies must safeguard access to safe, affordable reproductive care and ensure that people can make these decisions with dignity, privacy and support.
Goal: Ensure that every Mainer has access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare by protecting reproductive rights, maintaining a woman’s right to choose and safeguarding access to safe, affordable services that support personal autonomy and wellbeing.
Policy position: I support policies that continue to protect reproductive rights, maintain a woman’s right to choose and safeguard access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare in Maine. I support efforts that strengthen healthcare providers and clinics so they can continue offering safe, highquality reproductive services across the state. Protecting access, reducing barriers and ensuring individuals can make personal healthcare decisions with dignity and privacy are essential to maintaining reproductive freedom in Maine.
Responsible Gun Safety
Maine has a long, proud history of responsible gun ownership and hunting, and that tradition is an important part of our state’s identity. At the same time, keeping communities safe requires thoughtful, commonsense policies that respect constitutional rights while reducing preventable harm. Gun safety efforts should honor Maine’s heritage, support responsible owners, and strengthen measures that help keep firearms out of the hands of those who pose a danger to themselves or others. A balanced approach protects both our traditions and the wellbeing of our communities.
Goal: Promote community safety while honoring Maine’s long, proud tradition of responsible gun ownership and hunting by supporting commonsense policies that reduce preventable harm and keep firearms out of the hands of those who pose a danger to themselves or others.
Policy position: I support examining policies that reduce gun violence while respecting constitutional rights. This includes strengthening background checks, improving crisis intervention tools and promoting community safety through practical, commonsense approaches that help prevent firearms from reaching individuals who pose a clear risk. A balanced approach protects Maine’s traditions while supporting the safety and wellbeing of families across our communities.
Protecting the Environment
Scarborough is home to Maine’s largest salt marsh, a vital ecosystem that supports wildlife, protects our coastline and reflects the natural beauty that defines our state. This remarkable resource is part of a broader network of forests, rivers, wetlands and coastal habitats that make Maine such a special place to live. Preserving our environment is essential to safeguarding the character of communities across Maine and ensuring future generations can enjoy the landscapes we cherish. Protecting clean air, clean water and healthy habitats requires thoughtful, responsible policies that balance growth with conservation and honor the unique natural resources that shape Maine’s identity.
Goal: Protect Maine’s natural resources, including Scarborough’s largest salt marsh, by supporting responsible environmental policies that preserve clean air, clean water and healthy ecosystems while balancing conservation with thoughtful, sustainable growth across our state.
Policy position: I support policies that protect Maine’s natural resources, recognizing that they are central to the character and identity of our state. This includes preserving clean air and clean water, safeguarding critical habitats and ecosystems such as wetlands, forests, and coastal areas, and ensuring that future generations can benefit from Maine’s natural beauty and biodiversity. I support responsible, balanced approaches to development that protect sensitive environmental areas while allowing communities to grow sustainably.
