Trevorrow, 28, is finishing a one-year term on the Portland Charter Commission, an elected position. She is a spokeswoman for the Green Independent Party and serves on the party's state steering committee.

She holds an English degree from the University of Southern Maine and lives on Congress Street with her partner, Anthony Zeli.

Trevorrow said she is running because this is an opportune year for a third-party candidate.

"People are looking for something outside of the status quo," she said. "I'm unafraid to challenge the system (in Augusta)."

Trevorrow said she is excited about a transportation bond recently approved by voters that will fund improvements to the St. Lawrence-Atlantic and Mountain Division railroad lines. 

Creating commuter rail, linking Portland to Lewiston-Auburn and communities west of Westbrook and Windham, would not only reduce traffic, Trevorrow said, but would be a tourist attraction.

Trevorrow said the state budget shortfall cannot be dealt with by cutting expenses alone. While efficiencies among agencies should be explored, departments like education and health and human services have met their limits, she said.

Instead, she would try to increase revenue by creating a new tax bracket for those making more than $250,000 and taxing them at a higher rate. She also would separate the meals and lodging tax, while increasing the latter. Increasing taxes on luxury items and services is also an option, she said.

Trevorrow said she would also like to re-examine the state's corporate tax laws, which she believes are too friendly to big-box stores and put local businesses at a disadvantage.

"We ought to think: are (corporations) paying their fair share and are we taxing them at a fair rate?" she said.

Trevorrow said she supports wind and solar energy projects as long as they occur on a decentralized, residential basis. Large-scale wind projects have adverse effects on the community and ecology, she said.

As a third-party candidate, Trevorrow said she will be best positioned to make "sound ethical judgements."

"I'm not part of the two-party system," she said. "That would put me in a point where I wouldn't owe my vote to anybody."

Read the entire article at The Forecaster.