Lawrence Steven Bliss (born December 29, 1946) is an American educator and former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from the state of

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 ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

(2000–2008) and the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

(2008–2011). He resigned as a senator on April 15, 2011 after accepting a position as an administrator at

California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...

, and leaving the state of Maine.

Biography

Bliss studied at multiple campuses of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees. He taught at the middle school and high school levels before moving to university administration. He worked at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

before moving to Maine. He was formerly employed as the Director of Career Services and Professional Life Development at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

. Bliss was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in November 2000, winning 58% of the general election vote in South Portland's 24th district. Re-elected in 2002, his district was renumbered the 122nd in time for the 2004 election, when he secured re-election with 67% of the vote. He won by a similar margin in 2006.

Term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s prevented him from seeking a fifth House term in 2008. Instead, he was a candidate for the

in the 7th district, which includes

Cape Elizabeth Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,535. ...

, South Portland and part of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. The incumbent, Sen. Lynn Bromley, was also forced out by term limits. In the primary election on June 10, 2008, Bliss faced former state representative Ed Kelleher and defeated him by 63% to 37%. He faced Republican John F. Ridge in the November general election and won. He ran for re-election in 2010, winning narrowly in a race that went to a recount. His original lead of 64 votes was widened to 75 votes in the recount: Bliss polled 9,172 to his Republican opponent's 9,097. Bliss resigned his Senate Seat to accept a position in university administration at California State University, East Bay. As Director of Academic Advising and Career Education, he grew his department from a staff of seven to a staff of 21 when he retired. He retired at the end of 2020. Bliss is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and has three children. He and his partner have been together since 1995. They were married in 2008, during that short time when marriage was legal in California. During a vacation trip, the couple married at the Ventura County Courthouse, with their young children serving as their witnesses. Bliss has long been involved with charitable and community organizations, including the AIDS Project, the Equity Institute of Maine, the South Portland Citizens for Justice, and the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (now known as

EqualityMaine EqualityMaine (formerly the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance) is Maine's oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political advocacy organization. Their mission, outlined on the organization's website is to "secure equality ...

). He also served as Treasurer of the

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

Democratic Committee. The couple currently reside in their home in the Hayward hills.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Larry 1946 births Members of the Maine House of Representatives Maine state senators LGBT state legislators in Maine University of California, Berkeley alumni Politicians from South Portland, Maine Living people People from Hayward, California California State University, East Bay faculty 21st-century American politicians