Michael A. “Mike” Sylvester is an American politician who has served as a member of the
Maine House of Representatives since 2016. He represents the 39th House District as a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
. Sylvester is a member of
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...
.
Early life and education
Raised in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...
, Sylvester attended
Bard College
Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark.
Founded in 1860, ...
, graduating with a degree in English.
Career
After college, he worked as a
union organizer
A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers.
In some unions, the orga ...
for twenty years, starting off by organizing nursing homes in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. After returning to Maine, he started a business renting out golf carts on
Peaks Island, where he lives.
He served for three years on the Peaks Island Council, including two years as chair.
In 2016, Sylvester ran to succeed the term-limited state representative for the 39th District,
Diane Russell
Diane Marie Russell (born August 9, 1976) is an American politician who served in the Maine House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Political career
When Russell first ran for the State House in 2008, she was workin ...
, defeating lawyer Andrew Edwards in the Democratic primary and Republican Peter Doyle in the general election. Sylvester ran as an open
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
, supporting an increase in the
minimum wage,
legalization of marijuana
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
, and
single-payer health care.
[ In 2018, he won a second term in a landslide.
In 2018, Sylvester was appointed as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Housing. In his role as House Chair, he helped to pass Workers Compensation Reform, a Statewide Paid Time Off Bill and a bill to legalize the rights of loggers to organize unions. Bills sponsored by Sylvester to create a municipal “union card check” law and to create a Ground Water Resource Committee were signed into law while a bill to allow teachers to bargain over preparatory periods was vetoed by Governor ]Janet Mills
Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 75th governor of Maine since January 2019. She previously served as the Maine Attorney General on two occasions.
A member of the Democratic Pa ...
.
Sylvester sponsored bills to allow public sector workers the right to strike and to create a state-wide single payer healthcare system. Both of these bills were carried over to the 2019 emergency session.
In May 2020, as the Chair of Maine's Labor and Housing Committee, Sylvester cross-examined Maine's Department of Labor Commissioner on unemployment compensation during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, Michael A.
Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives
Politicians from Portland, Maine
21st-century American politicians
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Maine
Bard College alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Trade unionists from Maine
Maine socialists
Politicians from Lewiston, Maine