March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Portland lawmaker likely choice as speaker of Maine House

AUGUSTA — Steven Rowe’s quiet quest for the most powerful post in the 151-member Maine House of Representatives has been influenced by two major factors: term limits and a personal willingness to assume risks.

The 45-year-old representative from Portland’s District 30 is the odds-on favorite to become the 94th speaker of the House during today’s Democratic caucus at the State House.

In contrast to his predecessors, the three-term legislator will be the first speaker to have “fast-tracked” his way to the rostrum because of term limits. Maine voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1993 barring members of the Legislature from serving more than four consecutive terms.

About six months before voters cast that historic vote, Rowe was holed up in a room with a small group of determined lawmakers going toe-to-toe with House Speaker John L. Martin. Critics of the Eagle Lake Democrat cite Martin as the individual who inspired the need for term limits.

Martin had held the gavel of the House since 1975 but his office was reeling from the aftermath of the 1992 “ballotgate” scandal. The crisis climaxed when one of his senior aides was jailed for altering ballots in an attempt to defeat Republican candidates. Martin was not charged in the incident, but a group of representatives like Rowe felt the series of events had undermined Martin’s ability to lead not just the House but the Democratic caucus as well.

After a two-year hiatus from the Legislature because of term limits, Martin was re-elected this month to represent District 151. In an ironic twist, the only candidate for speaker for whom Martin will be able to vote today is the man who challenged his leadership five years ago.

Rowe didn’t care to recall the details of that confrontation during an interview Friday. Despite the fact that there were many Martin loyalists at the time who didn’t hesitate to brand Rowe and his colleagues as “traitors,” the man who will be the next speaker doesn’t perceive himself as particularly gutsy.

He does acknowledge that risks must be taken in life.

“I think you have to take risks,” he said. “The only way you effect change is by taking risks. Otherwise change takes place with you as a bystander. I ruffled some feathers, there’s no doubt about that. But I think there are people who respect me. Otherwise I wouldn’t be a candidate for speaker.”

Martin resigned his post in 1994, setting the stage for Fairfield Democratic Rep. Dan Gwadosky’s succession. Term limits forced Gwadosky out of the Legislature in 1996 and what was expected to become an easy walk to the speakership for assistant floor leader Rep. Elizabeth H. Mitchell of Vassalboro became less certain when Rowe announced that he would challenge her for the job.

Popular among many lawmakers in their 30s and 40s, Rowe could have split the Democratic caucus. But he agreed to withdraw from the race, he said, after it became apparent to him that he couldn’t beat Mitchell.

“She deserved to be speaker,” he said.

By challenging Mitchell, Rowe showed House Democrats he had strength and spunk. By withdrawing from the race, he demonstrated his respect for Mitchell and his desire to unify the caucus. And he knew Mitchell would be term limited out of office in 1998. Like Mitchell, Rowe will also be forced from office by term limits in 2000.

“I’m a victim and a beneficiary of term limits,” he acknowledged. “As long as we have term limits, you will probably continue to see two-year and four-year speakers for a while.”

An engaging smile and piercing blue eyes are the first features that a stranger is apt to notice when meeting Rowe. His silver-tinged, salt-and-pepper hair lightened comparatively early for a guy who graduated in 1971 from a small high school in Gore, Okla. He is soft-spoken, but direct and not easily led.

Rowe is a West Point graduate and served in the United States and Europe before leaving the regular U.S. Army in 1981 with the rank of captain. He met his wife, Amanda, while both were on active duty and came to know Maine when they would visit her South Portland home. The couple have four children.

He served in the U.S. Army Reserve and got a job at Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland with the help of a master’s degree in business that he earned while in the Army. In 1987, the nights and weekends he spent studying at the University of Maine School of Law culminated with a law degree.

He was hired in 1992 by his current employer, the UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, as a litigation attorney. That same year, he was elected as a Portland representative to the Legislature. In 1993, he resigned from the Army Reserve with the rank of major.

Republicans consider Rowe to be a very liberal member of the Democratic caucus, but the candidate for speaker bristles just a little at the idea of being labeled. He rejects classifications that tend to divide rather than unify, a quality that many of his supporters admire. Besides, separating people into groups does little to encourage communication, which is a high priority for Rowe.

“One of the problems in this building, I think, is communication,” he said. “Often a lot of times the filter really distorts the message between individuals, and between committees and parties. I want to make sure that we will have open, clear communications both within the legislative branch and between the legislative branch and the executive branch.”

Pending the outcomes of several recounts, the 119th Legislature is composed of 79 Democrats, 71 Republicans and one independent. Rowe said that, as speaker, he will always strive to find common ground between the two parties that will result in “win-win” situations.

“But there comes a time when that’s not possible and that’s why we have Democrats and Republicans,” said Rowe, who insists he would have been a Democrat even if he hadn’t been “born” one. “I will never sacrifice my beliefs, ideals and principles just to make a deal. I’ll never do that.”


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