BELFAST — Representative Jan Dodge, D-Belfast, will run for re-election for House District 97, according to a March 7 press release. 

District 97 includes the towns of Belfast, Northport and Waldo. 

In her first term, Rep. Dodge passed multiple bills into law, the release noted.

“Passage of her Anti-Food Shaming bill, dealing with public school lunches, was a very proud moment,” according to the release. “She has been working on a wide range of issues including education, the environment and social justice. One bill she is working on this session is a bill that would provide an Intensive Case Manager for our Waldo County Reentry Center; it has been voted Ought To Pass by the Health and Human Services Committee.” 

Based on Rep. Dodge’s voting record, several organizations have given the retired teacher high grades, the release said. Dodge has achieved 100% ratings with Maine Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, Maine Women's Lobby, Maine State Employees Association, Democracy Maine, Maine People's Alliance and the AFL-CIO, per the release. 

Rep. Dodge serves on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee and, according to the release, “is grateful for this assignment because she was a teacher for thirty-one years.”

Rep. Dodge grew up in Belfast, graduated from Belfast Area High School with High Honors and Graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She retired several years ago and served in leadership positions in Waldo County Triad, Waldo Education Association - Retired, Aging Well in Waldo County, Maine Education Association Retired and the Maine Education Association Government Relations Committee prior to her legislative service in the 129th Session of the Maine State Legislature.

“Rep. Dodge is one of the most community-oriented representatives that I have served alongside,” said Assistant Majority Leader Ryan Fecteau in the release. “She listens intently to her constituents, digs into the issues and champions their interests in Augusta. As a member of the education committee, her decades of experience in the classroom have been critical to assessing how to make our education system stronger and more equitable for all students in Maine.”