Dale Crafts

Dale John Crafts[1] (born December 14, 1958) is an American politician and businessman. He has started a number of businesses, including Mobility Plus, which helps people with disabilities drive more easily. Crafts was on the Lisbon, Maine Town Council before winning election to the Maine House of Representatives, where he served from 2008 to 2016.[2][3][4]

Dale Crafts
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
December 3, 2008 – December 7, 2016
Preceded byRobert Berube
Succeeded byGina Mason
Constituency104th district (2008–2014)
56th district (2014–2016)
Personal details
Born
Dale John Crafts

(1958-12-14) December 14, 1958
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Crafts was the Republican nominee in the 2020 election for the United States House of Representatives in Maine's 2nd congressional district. He has been paralyzed from the waist down since the age of 25, when he was hit by a driver while riding his motorcycle.[5]

Early life and family

Crafts was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and raised in Lisbon Falls, Maine.

Crafts' cousins: Garrett Mason, Gina Mason, and Rick Mason also served in the Maine Legislature.[6][7][8][9]

Business career

After he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident at age 25, Crafts started a company called Mobility Plus, which helps people with disabilities drive more easily.[10] Crafts has started a number of other businesses, including a self-storage business.[11]

2020 U.S. House election

Crafts became the Republican nominee for Maine's 2nd congressional district in 2020 after defeating realtor Adrienne Bennett and former state Senator Eric Brakey in a three-way primary election. President Donald Trump endorsed Crafts on August 1, 2020. As Maine uses ranked-choice voting, he was in first place with just under 46% of the vote in the first round. In the second round, he won with 58.5% of the vote.[12] He faced Democratic incumbent Jared Golden in the general election. On November 3, 2020, Golden won reelection with 53% of the vote to Crafts' 47%.[13]

References
  1. "The Voter's Self Defense System".
  2. "Our Campaigns - ME State House 056 Race - Nov 04, 2014". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  3. "Our Campaigns - ME State House 104 Race - Nov 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  4. "Our Campaigns - ME State House 104 Race - Nov 06, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  5. Mannino, Gabrielle (September 18, 2020). "Paraplegic US House candidate Dale Crafts skydives for veterans". abc10.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  6. Votesmart.org.-Dale J. Crafts
  7. "Maine House of Representatives". legislature.maine.gov.
  8. 'Maine Senate leader's mom running for House seat,' Bangor Daily News, Christopher Cousins, February 29, 2016
  9. 'Late Maine lawmaker's husband will succeed her in Lisbon seat,' Bangor Daily News (Maine), Michael Shepherd, November 7, 2017
  10. Panetta, Grace (August 28, 2020). "Jared Golden and Dale Crafts square off in Maine's 2nd Congressional District". Business Insider. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  11. Hirschkorn, Phil (23 June 2020). "Republican Dale Crafts, former Maine state legislator, eyes seat in Congress". WMTW. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  12. Election Results
  13. "Statewide and town-by-town Maine results for Election 2020". Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
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