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Dominique N. Marsalek is a public health advocate who grew up in the foster care system of Aroostook County. After a career spent fighting for kids like herself in Washington, D.C. and beyond, she remains focused on protecting the local communities and natural beauty that raised her.
I was raised in the foster care system of Aroostook County. Growing up there afforded me both the best and the worst of the world. But above all, Maine saved my life.
In Fort Kent, I built snow forts and made ice cream from fresh snow. Mud season meant picking fiddleheads; summer meant the lake and salting leeches off like it was nothing. I learned to drive a stick shift on my foster father’s truck before I could reach the pedals, the radio always on because we listened to stories instead of watching TV.
It is impossible to grow up in Fort Kent, Caribou, or Limestone and not believe in magic. I knew God was real as surely as I knew northern Maine’s autumn was a storybook come to life. That land made me who I am.
But the hardship was just as real. As a ward of the state, I was placed in special education before there was a true understanding of trauma. I learned things no child should know about vulnerability, isolation, and the weight of having no control over your own future. As a teenager, I was moved out of state to a different world entirely. I had no way of knowing then how much my life would change, or that I would spend my adulthood fighting for kids like me and the place that raised me.
I wouldn’t trade any of it. There is no land more beautiful and no people more straightforward than those in northern Maine. I carry those memories — and the morning smell of pine trees — with me every day. The first time I returned home as an adult and woke up to that scent, I cried. This is my homeland. It is worth protecting.
In my career in public health and child advocacy, I have championed many causes. None are as dear to me as the effort to send Gov. Janet Mills to the U.S. Senate. As a girl from The County, I knew no limits because I was raised on the legacy of trailblazers like Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins, and Mills. Their example taught me that a daughter of Maine could go from picking potatoes to advocating in Washington, D.C. for kids just like me.
I am asking you to rank Janet Mills this primary season. Although she has suspended her campaign due to a lack of funds, her name remains on the ballot, and I believe her commitment to our home is unwavering. Janet is a true daughter of Maine, with roots as deep as the pines in our soil.
I believe she understands that our land — from the jagged cliffs of Acadia to the quiet woods of the North — is not just real estate; it is a sacred trust. She will fight to ensure the beauty of our home is preserved for those who live and work here, not just those passing through. Janet believes in a Maine where a kid from the foster system can grow up to build a life on this land, and where the next generation can still find peace in the wild berries and fiddleheads of our childhoods.
Let us honor the independent-minded ancestors who cultivated this state by choosing a leader who values our history as much as our future. Janet Mills’ fight to protect the soul of Maine is our fight.
Please, rank Janet Mills.
