GRAY + NEW GLOUCESTER
I'm officially running as a Clean Elections candidate! Which means I collected more than 60 individual $5 contributions from registered voters in my district (all of NG, and the Little Sebago/Libby Hill side of Gray), and so the state has awarded me campaign funds. But I'm not done yet! Every 15 $5 contributions from now on triggers another $1800 in state funds. In my district and want to give me a $5 contribution? Click HERE. Yes, my government name is Louis Samuel Pfeifle, so you'll have to select "Louis Pfeifle." Thank you for your support!
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Who is Sam Pfeifle?

People ask all the time, so: "Pfeifle" rhymes with "rifle."
Sam Pfeifle lives on West Gray Road, in Gray, in an 1870s innkeeper's house he bought with his wife Kristen back in 2001. In the past 25 years, they have raised two children together, Ruby and Gus, who loved their time in the GNG school system and recently graduated. 
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WORK HISTORY

  • Two years of teaching high school English in Laconia, NH
  • Fifteen years of running publications, from the Portland Phoenix to Security Systems News to Workboat News
  • Five years running content for the International Association of Privacy Professionals
  • Five years as a freelance journalist and content services specialist (whatever that means), which now puts me in the music industry. Which is great. 
  • I also co-own a bookstore with my sister, the Book Shop of Beverly Farms, in Massachusetts; play in a bluegrass band called the World Famous Grassholes; and teach skiing at Pleasant Mountain on the weekends. 

Education

  • UMass-Boston, then the University of Vermont, graduating with degrees in education and English. 
  • This wide variety of life experiences has exposed me to local, state, national, and international business practices and public-policymaking and put me in the room with lots and lots of "important" people. The ones I admire and tell people about are the sorts of people who put other people before themselves and use their talents to make the world a better place.

PUBLIC SERVICE

From two grandfathers who fought in WW2 to parents who volunteered for every town and school job imaginable (Dad is currently president of his condo association, mom just resigned from the grounds committee) to a wife who chaired the Town Library Board and served as secretary on her knitting guild to kids who are dorm presidents and team captains, service is part of the Pfeifle family culture. We know that we only get the community we work to create alongside our neighbors and friends.
  • Gray Ordinance Review Board, starting in 2001 (with the likes of Wade Trudel, Bill Getz, Jim Foster, and Bill Holmquist electing me chair in 2003, mostly because I could type the fastest).
  • Gray (and then GNG) Little League Board (2005-2015 or so), with my last seven years running the T-ball program.
  • MSAD 15 School Board (2014-now), now in my fourth term. Chair from 2020-2024.
  • Coaching many, many soccer and baseball teams and enjoying just about every minute of it. I still throw batting practice on Sunday nights when the arm is feeling good.
I was chair of the school board during the Covid Pandemic and have been the chair of the Finance Committee a couple times, including now, and I oversaw work needed to get a budget passed last year. During my time on the MSAD 15 board, I've learned a heck of a lot about public administration and where and how government can help people, from the likes of Tina Martell, Shad Hall, Will Burrow, Gary Harriman, and the late Anne Rowe. I am very proud of the work the MSAD 15 School Board has done to improve our schools, with the high school's ranking as #2 in all of Maine a particular feather in the district's cap. Now, I'm seeking to become the State House Representative for House District 104 because I want to take this service of the community I love so much to the next level. I think I'm qualified and I know I will both enjoy it and be good at it.
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What does Sam think are the most important issues facing GNG?

In general, I love Gray-New Gloucester. I have been many, many places around the world, but I haven't found any I like more than here. It's where we chose to raise our family and we have been delighted with that decision. Sometimes, that gets lost when politicians talk about fixing what's broken. I'm not going to let anyone argue that GNG isn't an awesome place to live. No place is perfect, however, and there are way too many people here in GNG who are struggling just to get by, and that's unacceptable. Our community is only as good as how we treat the least fortunate among us, and it's clear we can do better in making sure people are thriving and able to live the American Dream here in Gray-New Gloucester.  

We need a true advocate in Augusta

We need to prioritize issues that help the most people
  • First and foremost, House Representative 104 is a job that entails advocating for the people living in that district. The state creates budgets, policies, funding mechanisms, regulations, laws, and all sorts of other things that directly impact the people of Gray-New Gloucester. The job is to advocate for the things that will help us! That’s a job I very much want.
  • Too often, I think politicians try to get elected so they can implement their own personal vision. That's not me! I don't know what the best way to do things are until I study the issue, work with experts in the field, and follow a decision-making process. I want to bring that energy to Augusta. 
  • I am running as an independent because I don't want anyone to ever think I would put the wants or positions of a party above the people of Gray-New Gloucester. 

We need solutions-focused, data-informed policy-making, not sloganeering and false promises

We need to stop lazy law-making
  • Aren't you tired of hearing people fight with each other on TV? Fight with each other on Facebook? Make a scene in meetings? I am. I'm not going to fight with anyone.
  • I'm going to work with anyone who wants to make the world a better place for the people of Gray-New Gloucester and brings curiosity and good faith to the discussion.
  • Managing a society of diverse people is hard! Let's treat it like the difficult task it is and all work together to find good solutions to hard problems by gathering information, talking to experts, and — most importantly of all — talking to the people whose lives will be affected by whatever decision gets made.
  • Let's make sure everyone's voice is heard. 
  • It might sound corny, but I try to lead with love and to assume good intentions.
  • I fundamentally believe that we all want the same things: a nice place to raise our families, a good job or purpose in life that makes us feel fulfilled and earns us enough to live life without struggling, and good times with friends and family. We can all have these things. We just have to figure out the best ways to do the most good by doing the least harm and with the least effort and resources.
  • We have to get away from thinking that major societal problems can be solved with one special law, or one change in policy, and then magic falls from the sky. Government is hard work and we should hire professionals who specialize in public administration to do the work of it.
  • Legislators and elected officials should provide policy and guidance and try to stay out of the day-to-day work of the government. 
  • We have to remain flexible and open to change as much as possible. Every day, the world is a different place. Let's make sure our government is ready to take advantage of the opportunity that presents. 

We need affordable housing, healthcare, and food

We need to make sure the next generation has a chance
  • These are human rights. Everyone, no matter how flawed, deserves a place to live, to be cared for when sick or injured, and to be able to put food on their table. There’s no way for any of us to know what has happened to a person to put them in a place where they can’t provide those things for themselves, but increasingly even those people who are doing everything "the right way" can’t find a place to live, can’t find a doctor, can’t find a job that actually pays the bills and leaves them with enough to put food on the table. That’s unacceptable.
  • The kids graduating from our state universities right now are doing all the right things — getting a great education, saving up money, getting a professional job in their field — and still finding themselves unable to afford to buy a home in Maine. Something is broken. Fixing it has to be a top priority.
  • If we want to make sure kids can leave the nest, we also need to create an aging strategy for townspeople who don’t want to leave town once family members have grown up and moved out, but maybe don’t need to keep living in their three-bedroom family home. 
  • We need to follow the strategic plans we’ve set for our communities and not whipsaw back and forth based on the gut feelings of whomever happens to be “in charge.” The towns should have plans and they should have an advocate in Augusta to make sure those plans are supported by state regulation and funding. 
  • We need a variety of housing options and we need to have zoning and planning that is flexible enough to take advantage of opportunity. 
  • We need to explore public housing options.
  • I believe that density is more sustainable, easier to provide services to, and opens up options for public transportation, retail opportunities, and live-work spaces. We must find ways to do more by spending less. 
  • I support a medicare-for-all-style public healthcare system that ensures everyone has access to healthcare and especially can take advantage of preventative healthcare that will save us from exorbitant expenses at emergency rooms down the line. If you think what we're doing currently for healthcare in this country is working, we are in fundamental disagreement. It's broken and failing and we have to fix it. As a country, we spend more per person than just about every other country and have worse health outcomes. I'm not sure what more evidence you need that there's a better way. Let's find it. 
  • The state can get us closer to that through efforts to create large insurance pools similar to those available to educators and/or public employees. The bigger the pool, the more spread out the risk, the bigger the buying power. Making healthcare better is a process that will take maybe decades of dedicated work. Anyone who tells you they have one quick fix is just telling you what you want to hear. 
  • We would be stupid to do anything without considering the way the environment is changing, the way demographics are changing, and the way society is changing. We need solutions that consider the conditions we will face in the future and lay plans to account for the new and different challenges we will undoubtedly face. 

We need accessible, affordable, and effective education

We need to give kids the tools they need to succeed
  • Our schools are part of the very foundation of our community, helping us to create the next educated citizens who will lead us into the future. We need to make sure schools have the resources they need to support teachers as they work to educate kids who are faced with the challenges of the Digital Age, with addictive phones in their pockets and more demands on their attention than ever before.
  • Especially with the rise of artificial intelligence, I believe strongly that kids still need to be able to navigate the world in analog fashion, to do math, read, know their history, and be able to solve problems independent of the internet and computer aids. They need to be able to figure out what's true!
  • Kids need the arts, music, humanities, and creativity to help them understand what it is to be human and why it matters in an age that's pushing ever more technology into their hands. 
  • However, local property taxes are not a sustainable way to pay for education. They can only be one piece of the funding formula. We have to increase the amount the state pays and keep taxes tied to housing manageable. No one should have to choose between remaining in their home and supporting education. This false choice is fracturing communities and we need to look to the state and federal levels for help. 
  • Local control is an important tradition in Maine and we should resist urges by the state to mandate what is taught in local schools. I support efforts like the Maine Learning Results that focus on outcomes and not methods, on skills that our kids should have and knowledge they should possess, rather than focus on specific learning materials or methodology. Every community has different needs and the people in the schools know their kids best. 
  • If the state wants to mandate specific topics be addressed, the state should provide funding to create local curriculum for that topic. 
  • If the state wants to increase minimum teacher salaries or ed tech salaries, the state should increase the funding to make up for that mandate.
  • We should use data and on-the-ground information to make decisions about the future of education, not ideology and wishcasting. 
  • Free community college is a no-brainer, is incredibly popular and got a ton of kids to try college who wouldn't have, and is a virtual necessity as we prepare for a wave of retirements by older mechanics, HVAC experts, electricians, and other tradespeople. I was very disappointed the funding for it was allowed to expire, and then thrilled that it was restored in the last legislative session. It also helps create teachers, social workers, ed techs, and all the other positions we desperately need on the municipal level.
  • I would pledge to support funding free community college in perpetuity and I would work to get more funding to the full university system so every kid in Maine who wants a college degree can afford to get one. The UMaine system should be a bright and shining beacon offering our kids a sustainable path toward the future they envision for themselves, however they'd like to get there. 
  • We also need some kind of public childcare system that reigns in the costs of childcare and allows families room to breathe. Young people can't afford to have families right now and that is not sustainable for Maine's future.

We need to conserve resources and plan for the future

We need to make "disposable" a dirty word
  • People who like to simplify public policymaking into terms that turn political discussions into sporting events like to ask whether a person is "liberal" or "conservative." I reject that kind of binary thinking, but I will say that I am fundamentally conservative in the traditional sense of the word. I abhor waste, believe in reusing and repairing over disposing and acquiring, and try to never spend a nickel when a penny will get the job done. 
  • As applied to public policymaking, this philosophy suggests that we should understand the resources available to us, be deliberate in their use, and make decisions based on sound, fundamental evidence. We should try to avoid doing things in a hurry unless we are confident that haste is necessary in order to help people in serious danger. 
  • We should focus as much as possible on preventing disaster and work hard to avoid the need for emergency response. If we can spend $1 now so that we don't have to spend $2 later, that's a good expense! 
  • We should avoid debt and borrowing unless we are creating assets that will have value beyond the terms of the borrowing. We can't borrow to pay salaries. We can't borrow to create disposable assets. We should borrow to make capital investments that will create longstanding value and as part of a larger plan to make use of that new value. 
  • As just one example, we have to find a way to address the school building problem via consolidation and rehabilitation. If we're not caring for our buildings in a way that makes them obsolete in less than 100 years, well, we're failing the taxpayers who tasked us with building infrastructure and facilities. But if that ship has already sailed, we have to look at creating efficiencies and finding ways to create consolidated schools that are built with sustainability and tomorrow's climate challenges in mind. We can't be building monuments to the past. 
  • Mayors, town managers, town council members, legislators, governors, and everyone else who works for the people are stewards of public assets and we should expect them to care and maintain those assets and hold them accountable when they don't. 
  • Climate change is real, unavoidable, and fairly well forecast at this point. Failing to account for rising temperatures and rising incidence of extreme weather is poor planning in this day and age and I will work hard to make sure GNG and Maine as a whole are able to understand what is coming down the pike and be prepared for it. Heck, we might even take advantage of it! 

We need funding sources that reflect our values

We need to raise more floors by lowering a few ceilings
  • People in Maine understand that we're all in this together. We rely on the plow drivers, volunteer firefighting forces, nurses, teachers, EMS responders, yes, but also our neighbors and everyone in the community pitching in to create an enjoyable existence for everyone. Those who have more to give are those who give more. That's your responsibility to the community. 
  • Voters passed in 2016 a law that would have added an extra 3% tax to earnings after $200,000 in a year to help pay for education. The legislature overturned it. I still support efforts like that to generate revenue from people who can afford it, though $200,000 is not the same as it was in 2016. 
  • I support an added tax on AirBnB-style rental income, for example; we need to incentivize people to rent those properties to people who need long-term housing. 
  • Rather than increase so-called "sin" taxes, as has already been done repeatedly, and largely burdens the already-poor, we should increase taxes on things only wealthy people can afford — and I am eager to see how the sales tax expansion to digital services pans out in 2026 and beyond. 
  • Ultimately, though, the juice that's available to squeeze is at the federal level — the billionaire class is hoovering so much money out of local economies that we must find ways to make the very few level the playing field for the very many. 
  • I do not have all the answers as to how we best generate revenue in a fair and equitable way; I am committed to learning and listening about the Maine state budget. I have been through 10 budget cycles with the school district, which has a $33m budget at this point, and have only experienced one budget rejected by voters, so I understand the needs for managing costs and living within taxpayer means. 

Endorsements

Here are some people and organizations who say you should vote for me
  • On July 15, I was honored to receive the endorsement of the Maine AFL-CIO, a union of unions standing for Maine workers. I have enjoyed my experiences working with the unions at the school district and I believe firmly that strong unions and well-represented workers are vital to a thriving society where everyone has a chance to succeed.
  • On July 30, I was honored to receive the endorsement of the Maine Education Association, the union that represents our teachers here in Maine. As a former teacher and long-time member of the MSAD 15 School Board, and an advocate for the importance of public education, I am proud to have the teachers behind me!
  • On August 5, I was honored to receive the endorsement of the Maine Service Employees Association,SEIU Local 1989. Maine runs better when its employees are fairly compensated and invested in their work! All of us benefit from their talent and dedication.