Charles P. Pray (born August 15, 1945) is an American politician from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Pray was born in the

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Millinocket, Maine Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census. Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008. History ...

on August 15, 1945. He grew up in northern

Piscataquis County, Maine Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,800, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft. The county was incorporated on March 23, 1838, ta ...

attending a one-room schoolhouse from 1954-1959. He attended

Maine Central Institute Maine Central Institute (MCI) is an independent high school in Pittsfield, Maine, United States that was established in 1866. The school enrolls approximately 430 students and is a nonsectarian institution. The school has both boarding and da ...

, graduating from

Stearns High School George W. Stearns High School (commonly Stearns High School or SHS) is a coeducational public high school, public secondary school in Millinocket, Maine, Millinocket, Maine, United States, and is part of the Millinocket School Department. It serv ...

in his birthplace of Millinocket in 1964. He then attended

Ricker College Ricker College was a small college located in Houlton, Maine, Houlton, Maine, United States. It opened in and closed in . It began as Houlton Academy in 1848, before being subsequently renamed Ricker Classical Institute in 1887. It became Ricker ...

in Houlton. In 1966, he enlisted with the US Air Force and served in Southeast Asia during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Finishing with the Air Force in 1970, he returned to Maine and enrolled at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, from which he graduated in 1973 with a B.A. in political science. In 1974, he was elected to the Maine Senate to represent Piscataquis County and the northern area of Penobscot County, which was the largest legislative district east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. From 1978-1982, Pray served as Assistant Majority Leader of the Maine Senate. From 1982-1984, Pray served as Majority Leader. In 1984, Pray was elected by his peers as

President of the Maine Senate The position of President of the Maine Senate was created when Maine separated from Massachusetts and achieved statehood in 1820. The Maine Legislature had one year terms until 1880, when an amendment to the Maine Constitution took effect to prov ...

, a position he held until a surprise defeat in 1992. He is one of two individuals to serve four terms but is the only Senate President in Maine history to hold the office for 8 full years. During the 1992 election, Pray was defeated by Stephen Hall of

Guilford Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford. Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to: Places Australia * Guildfor ...

, which the

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

called a "stunning defeat". Following the end of his term in the Maine Senate, Pray held several positions at both the federal and state level. In the linton administration he served as Special Assistant/Senior Adviser to the Assistant Secretary for Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs at the United States Department of Energy in a Senior Executive Administration Service position in Washington, D.C. In 2003, Governor John Baldacci appointed Pray to the position of State Nuclear Safety Advisor following work he was involved with while at the Department of Energy. Pray served as Director of Congressional Affairs for the National Nuclear Security Administration in 2010 in the Obama Administration. In 2011, Pray jumped into the debate on the proposed creation of a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

on land owned by

Roxanne Quimby Roxanne Quimby (born July 11, 1950) is an American businesswoman notable for founding the North Carolina-based Burt's Bees personal care products company with the eponymous beekeeper Burt Shavitz.Associated Press"Burt's Bees Founder Wants to Don ...

which was part of the Senate district Pray represented. He called for a comprehensive study of the effects of that a national park might have on not only tourism, but the entire economy of the region. In late 2012 and early 2013 Pray served as the acting Town Manager for his home town of Millinocket, Maine. In July 2013 he was nominated by the Penobscot County Commissioners to serve a four-year term on the Maine Land Use Planning Commission, the State's planning commission for communities without a planning board and the vast unorganized territories of Maine. In 2015 Pray was encouraged to fill the term of one of two vacant seats on the Millinocket Town Council where he received the top vote count. In 2016 he was elected to a full three-year term. In July 2017 Pray was named Executive Director of the Maine County Commissioners Association representing Maine's sixteen counties operation a number of services including Registration of Deeds, Probate, Sheriffs, Jails, Emergency Management, Waste and other activities of services. In the position he interacts with municipal, State and federal entities as well as the sixteen counties assuring coordination a degree of uniformity of operations. Pray remains active advising and outline strategies for elected and potential political candidates. He serves on the State Democratic Party's Executive Committee, Chairs the local tri-town Democratic Party Committee, serves as a member of the regional Housing Association, Vice Commander of the local Veterans' of Foreign Wars, a member of the American Legion Honor Guard and serves on several organizations. Pray remains active advising and outline strategies for elected and potential political candidates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pray, Charles P. 1945 births Living people University of Maine alumni Presidents of the Maine Senate Democratic Party Maine state senators People from Millinocket, Maine People from Piscataquis County, Maine Ricker College alumni United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Maine city managers United States Air Force airmen