Senate District 31
Donna Bailey

Senator Donna Bailey grew up in and around Berlin, New Hampshire, during the 1960s. She was part of the first group of children to attend the national Head Start program, to which she attributes a lifelong appreciation and high regard for education and learning.

She began working at age 14, developing a strong work ethic nurtured and inspired by her mother and grandfather, who worked hard their entire lives in the local mills and factories. In 1979, Donna graduated with honors from Berlin High School. In 1983, she graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, earning a degree in European History.

She was inspired to pursue a legal career by New Hampshire State Representative Hilda Brungot, her maternal great-aunt, who served the longest of any woman in a state legislature, and whose portrait hangs in the State House in Concord, N.H.

In 1986, Donna earned her Law degree from the University of Maine School of Law in Portland, Maine, and she became a member of the York County Bar.

In 2016, Donna was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, representing part of Saco. She served two terms. During her tenure in the House, she served as the House Chair of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and as the House Chair of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act. While serving on the Government Oversight Committee, she joined the maine Child Welfare Advisory Panel as its representative from the Legislature, a role in which she still serves.

In 2020, after serving two terms in the Maine House, Donna was elected to the Maine State Senate, serving the people of Senate District 31. She was re-elected in 2022 and 2024. In the 130th Maine Legislature, Donna was a Member of the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee and the Government Oversight Committee. She advocated for, and succeeded in, reviving the State Property Tax Deferral Program, which is a lifeline loan program that can cover the annual property tax bills of Mainers who are ages 65 and older or are permanently disabled and who cannot afford to pay them on their own.

In the 131st Maine Legislature, Donna was the Senate Chair of the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services. Additionally, she was the second senator on the Judiciary Committee. Donna was also the Senate Chair for the Commission Regarding Foreign Physicians Living in Maine, the Criminal Records Review Committee, and the Task Force to Evaluate the Impact of Facility Fees on Patients. In 2023, Donna sponsored the Maine Indian Child Welfare Act, which received unanimous, bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee, as well as the Maine House and Senate.

Prior to her legislative work, Donna has served on the Saco Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and as York County Probate Court Judge in the past. She also was a Mayoral appointee to the Saco Senior Tax Abatement Committee.

Donna is married, has two sons, two grandchildren, one dog and resides in Saco, Maine. In her spare time she loves to hike, kayak, garden, read, research genealogy and spoil her grandchildren.