Learn about Peter's goals for Senate District 19

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As an educator, Peter spent over thirty years preparing and caring for his students. Now, he's ready to do the same for his community in the Maine State Senate.

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Running to represent the northwest areas of Oxford and Franklin Counties

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A Bright Future for Western Maine

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<img src="https://run.imgix.net/918e1b22-45d3-472d-8786-73ef7e318406/ff979e0d-fd91-42e4-b851-f62879eadd97/ff979e0d-fd91-42e4-b851-f62879eadd97.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C2142%2C2856&amp;w=1500" alt="Candidate sitting on living room floor and playing guitar with baby" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="40" variant="framed">I split my growing-up between New Jersey until I was 9 and then northeastern Connecticut. I attended public schools in Pomfret, CT until high school. I went to Pomfret School, a small coeducational boarding school, as a day student, for high school. I earned my bachelors of arts degree in Biology from Dartmouth College in 1987, where I also met my wife Sarah who was a classmate. We were married in 1988 after we both taught in independent schools in Princeton, NJ. We moved to Washington, CT for two years to teach at The Fredrick Gunn School. We left Connecticut for Cambridge, MA in 1990 to attend graduate school. I earned a masters of science in Toxicology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sarah got her masters in education at Harvard. We purchased eight acres of land in Bethel, ME in 1990 as we were starting graduate school, and started building a small “camp” After this we taught at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA. We had two children while we were teaching at Governor’s, Samantha in 1993 and Max in 1996. We spent most of our school vacation time in Bethel. In 1999 I took a teaching job at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. We taught, coached, and lived there until 2002. Over this time our camp in Maine had grown into a full sized house framed with logs that we had harvested from the property. We decided to move to Maine full time in 2002. We both took teaching jobs in Bethel; I taught science (Biology, Chemistry and Research) at Gould Academy for the next 22 years.In addition to teaching science, I was also the cycling coach at Gould. Frustratingly, there was not a bike shop in the area, so in 2008 I started one. Thus I became a small business owner. We ran Bethel Bicycle for seven years, sold it, and 17 years later it is still serving the cycling community in our area.In 2011 I helped start an organization called Mahoosuc Pathways as its founding board president. Our goal was to build trails to connect communities in Western Maine. Fifteen years later I am still on the board of this organization, now named Inland Woods and Trails, and we have purchased approximately 2000 acres of land in Bethel and Rumford and built trails for hiking, biking, skiing, and other forms of outdoor recreation, free to the public.In 2012 I was elected to the Bethel Select Board. I served on the select board for nine years and was chairperson for four years. That was my first foray into government, and I both learned a lot, and enjoyed serving the people of Bethel.In 2024, I retired from teaching after 34 years and now spend most of my time building houses.&nbsp;My children are now 29 and 32 years old. My son Max lives here in Maine and reminds me frequently about the difficulty of finding housing and gainful employment in the area. My daughter has perhaps solved these problems by moving to Oregon, the other Portland, where job opportunities seem more plentiful. Last year she had our first grandchild, and we have to make the trip across the country to do our grandparenting. Our children's experiences have highlighted some of the issues which Maine faces as we head into the future.&nbsp;

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Peter Southam for Maine Senate District 19

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Meet Peter Southam and supporters to kick off his campaign for Maine Senate District 19! May 21, 2026 in Bethel

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Affordable Housing

A Thriving Economy

Sustainable Living

<h3>Fighting for My Community</h3>These are some of the top priorities my campaign is focused on.

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Peter Southam for Maine Senate Campaign Kick Off

Join Peter Southam and supporters to kick off his campaign for Maine Senate District 19!

Peter Southam for Senate Campaign Kick Off

I will work to manage the cost of housing by increasing the available housing stock for full-time Maine residents and by finding solutions for other costs such as heating and electricityInvest in rural health care to both lower health care costs, and improve the quality of care available to Mainers

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Affordability

Maine should continue to provide a leadership role in developing solutions for clean water, clean air, sustainable forestry, and sustainable energy technologies for the whole country.I know that educating our children is critical to keeping Maine strong into the future. This needs to include excellence in teaching of students from before kindergarten through university or trade school.

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I see a future for Western Maine full of opportunity. Outdoor recreation should be strengthened to provide revenue year-round, and heritage industries like forestry and lumber can be revitalized to keep and expand jobs here.Small businesses are the lifeblood of local economies. I will work to cut red tape and remove obstacles so they can grow with confidence.

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