Geoffrey Gratwick
| Geoffrey Gratwick | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Maine Senate from the 9th district | |
|
Assumed office December 5, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Nichi Farnham |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy |
| Profession | Physician |
Dr. Geoffrey Gratwick is an American politician and physician from Maine. Gratwick is the Democrat State Senator from Maine's 9th District, representing part of Penobscot County, including the City of Bangor and the neighboring town of Hermon. Prior to being elected to the Maine Senate, Gratwick served 9 years on the Bangor City Council.[1]
Personal: Gratwick was born in New York where his father was a high school principal. He lived in rural Connecticut for most of his early life before attending Harvard College, Cambridge University (England), Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and Cornell University (post-graduate work in rheumatology).[1] With family roots in Maine he moved to Bangor in 1978 where he established a private rheumatology practice for patients with arthritic diseases. He has been active in community affairs, the Maine Humanities Council, Bangor Land Trust, and competitive rowing on the international scene (gold medal at the FISA games in Hazelwink, Belgium, September, 2015). He has two children and four grandchildren.
Public/Legislative Service
In 2012 Gratwick ran as a Clean Election candidate and won a hotly contested race with incumbent Republican Nichi Farnham to become a State Senator. His win was one of several races in which a Democrat defeated an incumbent Republican and helped the Democrats win a majority in the State Senate.[2] In 2014 Gratwick was re-elected, defeating former Bangor Mayor Cary Weston. Gratwick won a majority of the votes in Bangor, while Weston won the smaller town of Hermon.[4] In the Legislature Gratwick has served on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee where he has been an outspoken and ardent advocate for affordable, quality health care for everyone. He believes our current health care system is unsustainable, serving neither patients nor businesses well, but that change must be incremental. He has also been on the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee.