Governor Janet T. Mills Sworn In to Second Term

• By: Angela Westhoff
• On: 01/05/2023 14:45:18
• In: Legislative/Government Affairs

Last evening at the Augusta Civic Center, Janet Trafton Mills took the oath of office to inaugurate her second term as Governor of Maine.
 
Governor Mills commented, “It is the highest privilege of my life to serve as your Governor, during hard times and good, stormy seas and calmer waters, as we weather the best and the worst of times together, tackling extraordinary problems, through extraordinary times, alongside you, the extraordinary people of Maine. It is an honor to lead a people where everything good is possible and where we believe always, deep in our hearts, ‘the best is yet to come!'”
 
In her second Inaugural Address, the Governor praised Maine people as a “people who endure and survive and thrive above it all.” She touted Maine's nation-leading response to the pandemic and her Administration's success in expanding health care, fully funding education, addressing climate change, expanding broadband, protecting reproductive rights, conserving lands and waters, and building up the Rainy Day Fund, among other achievements.
 
But she also noted that “our job is far from finished” and that “the responsibility we take up today is to choose action over acquiescence and apathy, to make decisions grounded in experience with an eye to the future, and always to be a part of something larger than ourselves.”

The Governor's inauguration ceremony featured the reading of original poems by Julia Bouwsma, Maine's Poet Laureate, and Richard Blanco, the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as musical performances by Dave Mallett, the Pihcintu Multinational Girls Choir, the Franklin County Fiddlers, the Sockalexis Family Singers, and the 195th Maine Army National Guard Band.

Governor Mills is Maine's first woman governor. In her historic reelection victory, she earned more votes than any governor in Maine history. She is the first governor since 1970 to be elected with a majority of the votes for both terms in office.

Read Governor Mills' second inaugural address (PDF).

Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org