The 2nd Congressional District has the luxury of two strong candidates running for the House this year, incumbent Rep. Mike Michaud and president of the Loring Development Authority, Brian Hamel. Both provide solid arguments for the district to send them to Washington, but Rep. Michaud, completing his first term, makes the stronger case based on his record and his years of success in the Maine Legislature.

In Congress, Rep. Michaud, a Demo-crat, continued his practice of working with Republicans on issues important to Mainers, and was especially effective in his role on the Transportation Committee, where he advanced the idea of an east-west highway from Calais to New York, getting the route designated a High Priority Corridor, which enhances its funding opportunities.

He addressed an idea that should have been solved years ago by proposing a Northeast Regional Economic Commission, mirroring the regionally influential boards in other parts of the country that have been successful in drawing development funding. A member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, he helped improve health care coverage and expanded it to current service personnel and their families.

Rep. Michaud has been persuasive when it mattered. After the Great Northern shutdown, he got $900,000 placed in an appropriations bill so Millinocket Regional Hospital could provide health care services for the displaced workers. A minority member of Congress, he nevertheless was able to provide $45 million in earmarks for Maine transportation projects. And when Maine workers were short of health care and retraining money, the congressman made sure the Department of Labor understood the need for the state to receive another $20 million in grants. After many phone calls, Maine got the money.

For a first-term member of Congress, this is an enviable record. Part of the source of this success lies with Rep. Michaud’s service in the Legislature, where he earned a reputation for persistence and an ability to find bipartisan compromise. His understanding of the political process and ability to give Maine a voice are strong. He and 1st District Rep. Tom Allen work well together, an important fact for a delegation with only two members in the House.

Mr. Hamel took on a job that few would have attempted in the early 1990s, after Loring Air Force Base had closed and the future of the region was in doubt. Today, more civilians are working at the former base than did when before it closed – more than 1,000 jobs created – helping not only Aroostook County but all of Maine. He did not accomplish this alone or without the aid of state and federal governments, but he led strongly and optimistically when there were plenty of worriers. Mr. Hamel is a Republican moderate in the tradition of the party’s most successful leaders and he should be encouraged in his political career.

But Rep. Michaud, through hard work and dedication to improving Maine, deserves a second term in Congress, where we are confident he will continue to represent the district with the same energy and success of his first term.