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Ryan Fecteau

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Ryan Fecteau
103rd Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
December 2, 2020 – December 7, 2022
Preceded bySara Gideon
Succeeded byRachel Talbot Ross
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
from the 11th district
In office
December 3, 2014 – December 7, 2022
Preceded byPaulette Beaudoin
Succeeded byTiffany Strout
Personal details
Born (1992-09-18) September 18, 1992 (age 32)
Biddeford, Maine, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationCatholic University (BA)
WebsiteCampaign website

Ryan Michael Fecteau (born September 18, 1992) is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. A Democrat, Fecteau serves Maine House District 11, consisting of a portion of Biddeford. At the time of his election as Speaker of the House in December 2020, Fecteau was both the youngest active state Speaker in the United States and the first openly gay person to serve as Speaker of the Maine House.

Fecteau was born and raised in Biddeford, Maine and graduated from Biddeford High School. He attended the Catholic University of America where he was active in student government and LGBTQ+ advocacy. He was first elected to Maine House District 11 in 2014 when he was 21 years old and was re-elected in 2016, 2018 and 2020. In November 2018, Fecteau was elected Assistant Majority Leader of the Maine House, and in December 2020 he was elected Speaker of the House. He is an account executive at Catalist.

Early life and education

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Fecteau is a native of Biddeford, Maine and the grandson of French-Canadian immigrants.[1][2][3] He was raised by a single mother who worked in healthcare, and Fecteau grew up in subsidized housing;[2] the family often relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program[4] for food. Fecteau graduated from Biddeford High School,[1] spending two years as the student representative to the Biddeford School Committee during his time there.[5]

After high school, Fecteau attended the Catholic University of America[1][3] where he majored in both political science and theological & religious studies. He was the president of the CUAllies, the University's LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and led a campaign to have the group officially recognized by the University, an effort which ultimately failed.[4][6][7] While at CUA, Fecteau was the first openly gay speaker of the Student Government General Assembly[4] and completed internships at the Democratic National Committee, the Human Rights Campaign, Catalist, and in the office of US Representative Chellie Pingree.[8] He was the first person in his family to graduate from college.[3][2]

Career

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Fecteau has worked as a field organizer for Mainers United for Marriage in 2012, was the chairman of the Biddeford Democratic Committee from 2011 to 2012, and was an editorial director at Trueline Publishing in Portland, Maine.[9][5] He has worked at several Ogunquit, Maine businesses since 2014 and at the Perkins Cove.[10] In late 2020, he was hired as an account executive at Catalist.[11][3]

Political experience

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Fecteau has been a member of the Maine State House of Representatives since 2014.

In 2013, while he was still a student at CUA, Fecteau began his campaign for Maine House District 11. He traveled to Maine on weekends to campaign and recruited friends to call voters during the weekends when he could not make the trip.[4] Fecteau defeated fellow Democrat David Flood 65%-35% in the 2014 House District 11 Democratic primary and beat Republican Debi Davis 67%-33% in the general election.[9] He was 21, the third-youngest member of the Maine legislature and the youngest openly gay state representative in the United States.[12][1]

Fecteau ran unopposed in the 2016 Democratic primary and defeated Republican Renee Morin 68%-32%.[9]

Assistant Majority Leader

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In 2018, Fecteau was again unopposed in the primary and defeated Republican Emily Rousseau[10] 62%-38%.[9] On November 16, 2018, the Maine House Democrats elected him Assistant House Majority Leader. Matt Moonen served as Majority Leader and Sara Gideon was the House Speaker.[13] Fecteau’s signature legislation was a ban on the harmful practice of conversion therapy in Maine. In 2018, despite the Legislature’s support, Governor LePage was the only Republican Governor in the nation to veto a conversion therapy bill.[14] In 2019, Governor Janet Mills signed the bill into law.[15] Fecteau also worked on a bipartisan measure to expand affordable housing in Maine, the single largest investment in housing in Maine’s history.[16]

House Speaker

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Fecteau ran unopposed in both the House District 11 Democratic primary and the general election in 2020.[9] On December 2, 2020, the Maine House elected him as their 103rd Speaker.[17] While Fecteau ordinarily would have been sworn in by Governor Janet Mills, Mills was quarantining after possible exposure to COVID-19, so Acting Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Andrew Mead conducted the ceremony instead. At the time of his swearing-in, Fecteau was the youngest presiding officer in the United States, the youngest Maine House speaker since 1842 and the first out speaker in Maine history. [11][2][17]

During his time as Speaker, he worked with Senate President Troy Jackson to pass LD 1, the COVID-19 Patient Bill of Rights[18] and continue the work of the 130th Legislature through a hybrid model of virtual public hearings and occasional distanced sessions at a Civic Center[19] before returning to the state house in June 2021.[20] His bill to expand dental care to 217,000 low-income Mainers was funded as part of the biennial budget.[21][22] Fecteau's multi-year efforts to fund capital improvements for Maine’s career and technical education centers finally passed in 2021 through his bill for $20 million and an additional $20 million was designated through American Rescue Plan funding.[23] In June 2020 Fecteau joined with Republicans to defeat a bill aiming to extend overtime protections to farm workers; however, he did back a bill to provide farm workers the right to organize.[24][25][26] In the same year, legislation he worked on to reform the state’s troubled unemployment insurance system became law.[27] Because of another bill passed by Speaker Fecteau in 2021, Maine municipalities could be incentivized to adopt zoning ordinances that encourage more affordable housing in Maine towns.[28] He authored legislation that allowed property owners to build an accessory dwelling unit on lots previously zoned exclusively for single-family housing.[29] He was later hired by Avesta Housing to serve on its board.[30]

Personal life and recognition

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Fecteau lives in Biddeford with his Goldendoodle, Pancake.[11] In 2015, he received Youth Innovator of the Year award from The Trevor Project, a group focused on suicide prevention among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and queer youth, at their annual TrevorLIVE event.[31]

Electoral history

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2014 Maine House District 11 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 495 65.2%
Democratic David Flood 263 34.8%
Total votes 756 100.0%
2014 Maine House District 11 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 2,475 67.1%
Republican Debi Davis 1,209 32.8%
Total votes 3,684 100.0%
2016 Maine House District 11 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 100.0%
Total votes 100.0%
2016 Maine House District 11 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 3,194 67.9%
Republican Renee Morin 1,512 32.1%
Total votes 4,706 100.0%
2018 Maine House District 11 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 949 100.0%
Total votes 949 100.0%
2018 Maine House District 11 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 2,395 62.0%
Republican Emily Rousseau 1,466 38.0%
Total votes 3,861 100.0%
2020 Maine House District 11 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 1,271 100.0%
Total votes 1,271 100.0%
2020 Maine House District 11 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Fecteau 4,113 100.0%
Total votes 4,113 100.0%[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Wells, Tammy (December 8, 2020). "Biddeford's Fecteau is Maine House Speaker". Portland Press Herald/Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Ring, Trudy (November 13, 2020). "Ryan Fecteau, Gay and 28, Breaks Ground as Maine House Speaker". The Advocate. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Thistle, Scott (November 12, 2020). "Democrats nominate Ryan Fecteau as next speaker of Maine House". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Lynch, Eva (April 2020). "Representative Ryan Fecteau Returns to CUA". The Tower: Catholic University's Independent Newspaper. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Graham, Gillian (October 20, 2014). "Millennial candidates see youth as asset in State House races". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Riley, John (December 20, 2012). "CUAllies Rejected". Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  7. ^ Lukpat, Alyssa (June 1, 2021). "Catholic University LGBT club continues decade-long fight for official status". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  8. ^ "McLean Center Wednesday Colloquies "Democracy in the Hallways of a State House"". The Nest, The Catholic University of America. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Ryan Fecteau". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Graham, Gillian (October 26, 2018). "House District 11: Two-term representative faces Republican". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Dezenski, Lauren (December 2, 2020). "Maine just elected the nation's youngest House speaker". CNN Politics. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  12. ^ Ring, Trudy (June 11, 2014). "Maine Could Make History With Gay Governor, Youngest Out Legislator". The Advocate. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  13. ^ "House Democrats elect Biddeford's Fecteau as Assistant Majority Leader". Portland Press Herald/Journal Tribune. November 18, 2018. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  14. ^ "Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage vetoed a bill on Friday that would have banned conversion therapy". Newsweek. July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "Mills Signs State 'Conversion Therapy' Ban". Maine Public. May 30, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  16. ^ Dwyer, Paul (February 12, 2020). "Signed bill aims to create 1,000 affordable housing units in Maine over the next eight years". www.wabi.tv. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Thistle, Scott; Miller, Kevin (December 2, 2020). "Keeping their distance, Maine lawmakers sworn in for historic session". Centralmaine.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Maine approves 'bill of rights' for COVID-19 patients". Press Herald. Associated Press. March 12, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  19. ^ Mistler, Steve (December 2, 2020). "In Historic Day, Maine Legislature Kicks Off Session At Augusta Civic Center". Maine Public. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  20. ^ WGME (June 2, 2021). "Maine Legislature returns to State House for first time since beginning of pandemic". WGME. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  21. ^ Miller, Kevin (June 3, 2021). "Maine House and Senate advance bill to expand dental coverage under MaineCare". Press Herald. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Editorial: Lawmakers close to finally expanding access to dental care". Bangor Daily News. June 5, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  23. ^ Mendros, Dina (February 13, 2020). "Biddeford lawmaker sponsors career technical education bill". Press Herald. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  24. ^ "Dems join with GOP to sink farmworker wage bill but pass act to let ag workers unionize". June 17, 2021.
  25. ^ Mannino, Gabrielle (December 2, 2020). "Fecteau officially becomes youngest Maine Speaker of the House in nearly 180 years". News Center Maine. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  26. ^ "Summary of LD 151". legislature.maine.gov. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "New law sets out to modernize Maine unemployment insurance system". Maine Biz. July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  28. ^ Mistler, Steve (March 22, 2021). "Bill Would Form Commission To Study Affordable Housing Shortages In Maine". Maine Public. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "Maine Legislature advances bill to address housing crisis - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  30. ^ "Avesta hires former Maine House speaker from Biddeford". November 14, 2023.
  31. ^ "Youth Innovator Award to go to Ryan Fecteau". Trevorlive.org. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
2020–2022 		Succeeded by
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