Commissioner Davis to run for fourth term

County government faces more responsibilities and is getting a smaller percentage of state funding for the job, according to Thomas Davis Jr., a Penobscot County commissioner who is running for his fourth term.

A commissioner for the past 12 years, Davis, a Republican, is running unopposed in the June 11 primaries.

Davis represents District Two, an area that covers Eddington, Orono, Veazie, Glenburn, Kenduskeag, Corinth, Exeter and Dexter.

Financial constraints and a shift in state government has placed more burdens on counties in recent years, Davis said.

“Our job also has been expanded because some towns have de-organized,” he said.

A dairy farmer, Davis, 58, serves on many agricultural and economic development boards locally and statewide. He is a member of the Eastern Maine Development Corp. and serves on the executive committee of the Cooperative Extension Service. He also is a member of the Private Industry Council, a board connected to the Training and Development Corp.

Davis is a member of the Heart of Maine, an economic board under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and served eight years as state director of the Maine Farm Bureau. He also served on the executive board of the Maine Farm Bureau for 12 years and was vice president of Penobscot County’s chapter of the Maine Farm Bureau for several years in the early 1980s.

Formerly a selectman in Kenduskeag, Davis served 15 years in town leadership positions before being elected a county commissioner in 1984.

He is married and has five children.