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Justin Chenette made history in 2012 when, at just 21 years old, he became Maine's youngest lawmaker and the nation’s youngest openly gay legislator. He was sworn into office just a week before graduating from college. Since then, Justin has spent nearly a decade in public office.
He is a former 4-term Maine lawmaker having served 4 years in the Senate and 4 years in the House of Representatives. Justin’s public service career began in high school at age 17 when Governor John Baldacci appointed him to serve on the Maine State Board of Education, making history as the first student board member. He currently serves as a Maine-Canadian Legislative Advisory Commissioner and a member of the Maine Right to Know Advisory Committee, after being appointed by Senate President Troy Jackson in 2021. In these roles, Justin works to strengthen cooperation between Canada and Maine as well as works to improve public access and transparency in government. Locally, he also serves as a mayoral appointee on the Saco Long-Range Planning Committee, helping to chart the city’s future. |
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Justin has been recognized nationally by The Advocate magazine, listing him on their list of the 40 Under 40 most accomplished leaders throughout the entire country.
In the Legislature, he chaired the bipartisan Government Oversight Committee, taking a leadership role holding agencies and department heads accountable to ensure effectiveness of programs and to safeguard taxpayer dollars. |
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He served on a number of committees including Senate Ethics, Environment & Natural Resources, Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Taxation, State & Local Government, Maine Climate Council’s Coastal & Marine Working Group, and founded the Democracy Reform Caucus and the Youth Caucus. He also served as a Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commissioner, advising on the legal and economic impacts of trade agreements on existing laws, working conditions and businesses in Maine.
Justin worked to pass successful legislation that reformed campaign finance laws to reduce money in politics, strengthened ethics limitations on lobbyist influence, tightened rules around political action committees, expanded Ranked Choice Voting, and put Maine on a path to implement automatic voter registration. Justin is the president and founder of the Maine Democracy Project, which works to empower a new generation of voters, advocates, and leaders through civics education. He is the author of the children’s book entitled The Great Whoopie Pie Debate, aimed at educating students about how their own government works.
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Justin previously ran a non-profit organization to advance arts education, connect Veterans to job training, help students afford college, and increase volunteerism. He continues this work through his family's nonprofit scholarship fund, providing college scholarships each year to graduating Maine high school students. Justin is the past president & vice president of his community’s downtown revitalization organization, Saco Main Street, a Saco Bay Rotarian, a Thornton Academy Class Agent, and member of the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Two sitting U.S. Presidents have honored his volunteer work as the recipient of the Volunteer Service Award; in 2008, by President Bush, and in 2016, by President Obama. He also received both the Governor’s Exemplary Service Award in 2009 and a Mayoral Certificate of Service for his leadership in the community in 2020. |
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Prior to legislative service, Justin got his start in journalism having been a TV anchor, producer, reporter, and columnist for various media outlets including WPXT, WPME, FOX 23, KATV, CTN, Biddeford Access, Caledonian-Record, Journal Tribune, Portland Daily Sun, and the Vermont Center for Community Journalism. He is best known in Saco for his role managing TATV Channel 3 and hosting his own statewide public affairs show, Youth in Politics, while in high school. He also served on the Society of Professional Journalists National Diversity Committee. Justin is currently a columnist with the Courier newspaper with a circulation of around 22,000.
While in college, he was chosen to be a national delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, was a congressional intern for Republican U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, and interned at both Saco City Hall and Equality Maine. He re-established the statewide organization, Maine Young Democrats, serving as its president for two years and is a past state director of the Young Elected Officials Network. |
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After attending Saco public schools, Justin graduated high school from Thornton Academy while taking a full semester of college courses at the University of Southern Maine. He graduated from Northern Vermont University-Lyndon with a B.S. in Broadcast News and was named the Outstanding Young Alumni in 2019. Justin went on to earn a Post-Baccalaureate Degree in Public Administration from the University of Maine at Augusta. After receiving a national fellowship, he also earned an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Justin works to help keep young people in Maine as the Program Director for the Worthington Scholarship Foundation, providing college scholarships for those attending Maine colleges. He lives in Saco with his husband Eduard, who works as an environmental engineer, an adjunct professor, and serves as a Saco River Corridor Commissioner. |
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