Termed out, President Edmonds looks back on time in office

At the end of a special session Wednesday, Senate President Beth Edmonds (D-Freeport) slammed down the gavel, likely for the last time.

Following the proceeding, PolitickerME caught up with Edmonds and asked her to reflect on her time in office. The whole conversation is below.

“It’s been amazing being the second woman, and standing on the shoulders of Bev Daggett,” Edmonds said. “I learned a ton about myself and other people. I think the greatest accomplishment is that I really helped heal the wounds between the House and Senate, and got us working together more often than not, which wasn’t the case previously.”

Edmonds is the second female Senate president, preceded by Beverly Daggett (D-Augusta) who ran the Senate from 2003 to 2004. She said the key is to keep putting females “in the pipeline” so they can work their way up to the higher offices.

Edmonds has been rumored to run for governor, but said she is keeping her options open.

Policy-wise, she’s proud of a number of transportation projects that were passed, raising pay for personal care attendants, minimum wage raises and passing the gay rights bill.

Another accomplishment, she said, was fighting for women seeking abortions to be funded through Medicaid, even though the initiative failed.

She said the biggest challenge came at times when she disagreed with her own party. As Senate President she said it was her job to lead Republicans and Democrats, and it was important to be fair and even handed.

Edmonds describes the State House as a small town, with every person – lawmakers, lobbyists, staff, media, etc… playing a role.

“There aren’t a whole lot of people who you can have a lot of conversations about what it’s like to be here,” Edmonds said. “It’s kind of an oddball place.”

She added: “I grew up in a small town of about 500 people, and there’s something important about everybody really in the larger picture trying to do well, even though we have a million disagreements about how that happens. There is something special about knowing this is why people are there, to do that, however they come out.”