Matthea Elisabeth Larsen Daughtry (born March 9, 1987) is an American politician from Maine. She is the President of the Maine Senate. She is a Democrat representing Senate District 23, which serves Brunswick, Chebeague Island, Freeport, Harpswell, Pownal, and part of North Yarmouth. Daughtry served as a representative to the Maine House from District 49 from 2012 to 2020.
Early life and education
Daughtry was born in Brunswick and raised in a politically active family who involved her in volunteering and voter registration.[1] She remembers an early interest in politics and describes campaigning on Maine Street in Brunswick to be President of the United States when she was six years old.[2] Daughtry's godmother was a state representative when Daughtry was young, and Daughtry worked as a page for her godmother at the State House.[1][2]
Daughtry attended the Maine Coast Waldorf School[3] and Brunswick High School (BHS),[4] enrolling in classes at Bowdoin College while she was a student at BHS.[2] She continued to Smith College where she majored in Studio Art with a focus in photography and sculpture.[4][5]
While at Smith, Daughtry worked as a freelance photojournalist at the Times Record in Brunswick and trained with Paul Cunningham. Aspiring to work as an NPR on-air personality,[6] she founded and ran the news department at Smith's student radio station, WOZQ 91.9 FM, and interned in the news department at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts.[7][5][6] Daughtry also worked for Maine 1st district congressman Tom Allen while she was in college.[7]
After graduating from Smith in 2009,[6], Daughtry worked as a curator for VSA Arts of Maine[5][7] and did freelance photography work for Michelle Stapleton.[2] She was doing legislative research and following Maine House races as a communications associate and legislative researcher for the Maine's Majority nonprofit when she first decided to run for office.[4][7]
Political career
Maine House of Representatives
Daughtry credits her financial difficulties after returning to Maine, and the words of then-governor Paul LePage disparaging young Mainers' financial choices, as a significant motivation for her to run for office.[8] In 2012, when the incumbent state representative for Daughtry's district, Alexander Cornell du Houx, dropped out of the District 66 race following the primary in June,[9] Daughtry decided to run. She won the three-way general election with 45% of the vote,[4] becoming Maine's youngest female legislator at the time.[4]
Daughtry was a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and was the House Chair of the Maine Commission on College Affordability and College Completion.[7] On June 12, 2015, Governor Paul LePage vetoed a bill sponsored by Daughtry, LD 537 "An Act To Prohibit Standardized Testing of Children Before Third Grade", as part of his pledge to veto every bill sponsored by a Democrat until they agreed to the elimination of the Maine state income tax. Two days later, the Maine Senate unanimously overruled Governor LePage's veto.[10]
Maine Senate
Daughtry announced her candidacy for Senate District 24 on January 17, 2020.[11] In July 2020, she defeated Stanley Gerzofsky, who had served the district in both the Maine House and Senate since 2000, in the District 24 Democratic primary with almost 80% of the vote.[12]
In the November general election, Daughtry defeated attorney Brad Pattershall[13] with over 66% of the vote.[14][15] On February 1, 2021, Maine Senate Democrats elected her to serve as Assistant Senate Majority Leader.[16] She was re-elected to the position in November 2022.[17] In December 2024, Daughtry was unanimously elected President of the Maine Senate. She is the youngest Senate president in Maine history.[18]
Personal life
Daughtry lives in Brunswick with her partner and their coonhound.[13] She co-owns and brews at Moderation Brewing Company in Brunswick,[7] which opened in 2018.[19][20] Daughtry is also a photographer and writer and owns a media company, Matthea Daughtry Media.[4][5]
^Swinconeck, John (28 February 2018). "Moderation Brewing Company". Portland Press Herald/Times Record. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
Italics indicate next-in-line of succession for states and territories without a directly elected lieutenant governor or whose lieutenant governor office is vacant:
