Sam Zager for Maine House launches Clean Election campaign!
"Why I'm running, and what I stand for"
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| Dr. Sam Zager, "Why I'm running and what I stand for" on February 11, 2020 |
2/11/2020 www.samzager.org
Thank you very much for coming this wet evening.
I’ll bring to the Maine State House a long and varied background of service and leadership, and an authentic grounding in many facets of this community.
This is our campaign’s launch meet and greet. I want to acknowledge people who have made today possible.
First, thank you to Jill Finberg and Barry Larman, our terrific hosts this evening. They are incredible!
As you know, I’m Sam Zager, and I’m a Clean Election* Democrat running for the open Maine House seat here in District 41. I’m a family physician, a many-year volunteer across the street at Deering High School, a board member of the Portland Public Library, and a very committed community advocate.
I’ll bring to the Maine State House a long and varied background of service and leadership, and an authentic grounding in many facets of this community.
This is our campaign’s launch meet and greet. I want to acknowledge people who have made today possible.
First, thank you to Jill Finberg and Barry Larman, our terrific hosts this evening. They are incredible!
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| Sam Zager, and Tracy, Maya and Daphne |
I want to thank Tracy, my wife of 20 years, best friend, and wisest and bravest confidant. Anyone who has worked with her, can tell you that she is the brains of our family. But she also has taught me how to have heart and how to grow as a person.
Tracy and I are blessed to have our daughters, Maya and Daphne, who are amazing in their own ways. It’s a privilege to be your dad.
My parents, Robin and Al Zager, are in New Jersey, but I must acknowledge the opportunities and home they created for my older brother, Josh, and me. Josh and I grew up keenly aware that we are Jews descended from immigrant escapees from Eastern European oppression; They taught us how to stand up and be counted, and how to work hard for just causes and a strong and supportive community.
[I have circulated the roster of the campaign committee. I am incredibly appreciative of the work that the committee has done in recent months to get to this launch. And I also appreciate the new volunteers who are arriving week after week]
During 11 years in the Navy (including 4 at the US Naval Academy), and 16 years in medical training and practice as a family physician, I’ve learned and practiced:
- Standing up for what I believe.
- Putting myself on the line
- Working for the common good
- The value of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
- Principled leadership
- How to listen.
One of the most common questions I am asked is, why would I enter politics in this ugly time? The short answer is that I believe I have worthwhile things to contribute, and I have never shied away from serving others.
Another answer is in the form of a story:
On Oct 7, 2001, I was on deployment a board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, 200 miles south of Pakistan. It was the month after the 9/11 attacks. A 50-ship multi-national battle force had amassed, and we were about to start a war. Yes, we had been attacked, and there was no secret that Al Qaeda terrorists were behind it. Yes, the American people and community of nations were practically unanimous that this was a justified military response. And yet my heart was restless. I was not convinced that the campaign we were about to launch would make the world any better or safer. What was I to do?
In that moment, the calm before the storm, I took a walk through the hangar bay inside the ship. I saw F-14s and F/A-18s loaded heavily with precision-guided munitions. I made a promise to myself in that tense moment of my life that I would do my military service, and that I would grow in a new direction. I would devote myself to help heal and build a better world.
Tracy and I are blessed to have our daughters, Maya and Daphne, who are amazing in their own ways. It’s a privilege to be your dad.
My parents, Robin and Al Zager, are in New Jersey, but I must acknowledge the opportunities and home they created for my older brother, Josh, and me. Josh and I grew up keenly aware that we are Jews descended from immigrant escapees from Eastern European oppression; They taught us how to stand up and be counted, and how to work hard for just causes and a strong and supportive community.
[I have circulated the roster of the campaign committee. I am incredibly appreciative of the work that the committee has done in recent months to get to this launch. And I also appreciate the new volunteers who are arriving week after week]
During 11 years in the Navy (including 4 at the US Naval Academy), and 16 years in medical training and practice as a family physician, I’ve learned and practiced:
- Standing up for what I believe.
- Putting myself on the line
- Working for the common good
- The value of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
- Principled leadership
- How to listen.
One of the most common questions I am asked is, why would I enter politics in this ugly time? The short answer is that I believe I have worthwhile things to contribute, and I have never shied away from serving others.
Another answer is in the form of a story:
On Oct 7, 2001, I was on deployment a board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, 200 miles south of Pakistan. It was the month after the 9/11 attacks. A 50-ship multi-national battle force had amassed, and we were about to start a war. Yes, we had been attacked, and there was no secret that Al Qaeda terrorists were behind it. Yes, the American people and community of nations were practically unanimous that this was a justified military response. And yet my heart was restless. I was not convinced that the campaign we were about to launch would make the world any better or safer. What was I to do?
In that moment, the calm before the storm, I took a walk through the hangar bay inside the ship. I saw F-14s and F/A-18s loaded heavily with precision-guided munitions. I made a promise to myself in that tense moment of my life that I would do my military service, and that I would grow in a new direction. I would devote myself to help heal and build a better world.
When we returned to our home port near Seattle, the following year, I attended community college and then the University of Washington. I resigned my commission in the Navy, and devoted myself to a new calling—becoming a physician. Tracy and I moved to Boston and started our family.
At Harvard Medical School I learned about the social determinants of health—how and why some people tend to suffer more disease and earlier death. I saw plainly the ugly disparities in health outcomes, even in a profession that takes a Hippocratic Oath. I began to look upstream at factors like poverty, racism, misogyny, anti-gay attitudes, and xenophobia. I drew connections to things I had learned as a history major writing about the Underground Railroad, and as an Economic and Social History graduate student with Tracy in the United Kingdom.
Medical school is challenging under ideal circumstances, and it was not easy to have a growing family, and to try to keep pace with my brilliant classmates. Tracy can tell you that I had my own learning struggles, and doubted my capacity many times. But just as I felt a responsibility of conscience aboard the aircraft carrier in 2001, I also felt a responsibility to my children and my community, to apply the privileged education and training that I was receiving, for the greater good.
In my fourth year of medical school, I found myself engaged in community advocacy for the first time. It was local. A proposal to save money was made by closing some branches of the Boston Public Library. At first it seemed reasonable, but when I learned that the targeted branches were in poorer, less educated neighborhoods, it didn’t seem right. So I dove into the medical and public health literature and built a case for the value of what in more recent years has become known as “social infrastructure.” I presented my work to many leaders of the Boston healthcare establishment. Everyone that I shared it with signed on, including recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the National Medical of Science. I presented the evidence and testified before the City Council, and as part of the other advocacy efforts, helped secure funding to save all of the threatened branches.
Tracy, Maya, Daphne and I then moved to Portland so that I could train as a family physician at Maine Medical Center. As a physician, I’ve led and published locally-based medical and social science research into the social determinants of health in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Practicing medicine in my usual practice and as a volunteer at Deering High, I’ve come to see, gives me insights into people’s lives and into our community. And I feel a responsibility to stand up and speak out when those insights might inform decisions that ultimately affect us all. That’s what I have worked hard and taken a stand for a number of issues through legislative testimony, published opinions, public speaking, and focused advocacy with lawmakers.
· Access to high-quality universal healthcare (e.g. Maine Providers Standing Up for Healthcare, standupme.org)
· Public Health infrastructure
· Women’s health access
· Public libraries and education
· Immigrants and New Mainers
· LGBTQ rights
· Educational opportunities in health sciences for traditionally under-represented groups.
· Gun control and safety
· Opioid Crisis response
It’s no surprise that my legislative priorities are progressive and evidence-based:
· Health, Access, and Safety
· Public Education and Libraries
· Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability
· Diversity and Economic Vitality
Thank you for coming this evening. As a Clean Election Candidate, I am NOT asking for money. But I do invite you to join me as we cultivate our brightest possible future. Thank you! I ask for your vote on June 9, 2020 in the District 41 primary!
At Harvard Medical School I learned about the social determinants of health—how and why some people tend to suffer more disease and earlier death. I saw plainly the ugly disparities in health outcomes, even in a profession that takes a Hippocratic Oath. I began to look upstream at factors like poverty, racism, misogyny, anti-gay attitudes, and xenophobia. I drew connections to things I had learned as a history major writing about the Underground Railroad, and as an Economic and Social History graduate student with Tracy in the United Kingdom.
Medical school is challenging under ideal circumstances, and it was not easy to have a growing family, and to try to keep pace with my brilliant classmates. Tracy can tell you that I had my own learning struggles, and doubted my capacity many times. But just as I felt a responsibility of conscience aboard the aircraft carrier in 2001, I also felt a responsibility to my children and my community, to apply the privileged education and training that I was receiving, for the greater good.
In my fourth year of medical school, I found myself engaged in community advocacy for the first time. It was local. A proposal to save money was made by closing some branches of the Boston Public Library. At first it seemed reasonable, but when I learned that the targeted branches were in poorer, less educated neighborhoods, it didn’t seem right. So I dove into the medical and public health literature and built a case for the value of what in more recent years has become known as “social infrastructure.” I presented my work to many leaders of the Boston healthcare establishment. Everyone that I shared it with signed on, including recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the National Medical of Science. I presented the evidence and testified before the City Council, and as part of the other advocacy efforts, helped secure funding to save all of the threatened branches.
Tracy, Maya, Daphne and I then moved to Portland so that I could train as a family physician at Maine Medical Center. As a physician, I’ve led and published locally-based medical and social science research into the social determinants of health in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Practicing medicine in my usual practice and as a volunteer at Deering High, I’ve come to see, gives me insights into people’s lives and into our community. And I feel a responsibility to stand up and speak out when those insights might inform decisions that ultimately affect us all. That’s what I have worked hard and taken a stand for a number of issues through legislative testimony, published opinions, public speaking, and focused advocacy with lawmakers.
· Access to high-quality universal healthcare (e.g. Maine Providers Standing Up for Healthcare, standupme.org)
· Public Health infrastructure
· Women’s health access
· Public libraries and education
· Immigrants and New Mainers
· LGBTQ rights
· Educational opportunities in health sciences for traditionally under-represented groups.
· Gun control and safety
· Opioid Crisis response
It’s no surprise that my legislative priorities are progressive and evidence-based:
· Health, Access, and Safety
· Public Education and Libraries
· Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability
· Diversity and Economic Vitality
Thank you for coming this evening. As a Clean Election Candidate, I am NOT asking for money. But I do invite you to join me as we cultivate our brightest possible future. Thank you! I ask for your vote on June 9, 2020 in the District 41 primary!
___________________________________________________
* Maine Clean Election Act - A voluntary program of full public financing of political campaigns for candidates running for Governor, State Senator, and State Representative. Maine voters passed the MCEA as a citizen initiative in 1996. Candidates who choose to participate may accept very limited private contributions at the beginning of their campaigns (seed money contributions).
To become eligible, candidates must demonstrate community support through collecting a minimum number of checks or money orders of $5 more made payable to the Maine Clean Election Fund. After a candidate begins to receive MCEA funds from the State, he or she cannot accept private contributions, and almost all goods and services received must be paid for with MCEA funds.
In 2015, Maine voters passed another citizen initiative (PDF) to improve and strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act. Certified candidates in contested general elections will be able to continue to collect qualifying contributions in order to receive supplemental payments of public campaign funds.
For an overview of the MCEA program since 2000, click here (PDF) .
In 2015, Maine voters passed another citizen initiative (PDF) to improve and strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act. Certified candidates in contested general elections will be able to continue to collect qualifying contributions in order to receive supplemental payments of public campaign funds.
For an overview of the MCEA program since 2000, click here (PDF) .
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