When Marge Kilkelly ran food services for the Boothbay schools in the late 1980s, she wore costumes on Halloween for the students.

These days, at home on Dragonfly Cove Farm in Dresden, the former Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Wiscasset resident tends ducks, meat goats, pigs and chickens.

Starting in January, husband Joe Murray and the couple’s Briard herding dog Estee will mind the farm while Kilkelly, a self-described homebody, commutes to her new job in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Senator-elect Angus King has just named Kilkelly, 58, his senior policy adviser.

Although it was not a complete surprise, since she was the policy director on King’s campaign, the appointment thrilled Kilkelly.

King's office announced the appointment December 21.

The woman who grew up near the footbridge on Boothbay Harbor’s Atlantic Avenue had long dreamed of such a job, but had always considered it a pipe dream.

The halls of government, in Maine and the nation’s capitol, have a pull on Kilkelly. Commuting to Augusta to represent Lincoln County districts in the state house and senate from 1986 to 2002, she said there wasn’t a day when she didn’t get chills as the capitol dome came in sight.

And when she visited the Congressional office buildings in Washington, D.C., she said she thought about how cool it would be to be a part of the daily workings there.

“I’m really just so honored and humbled to have this position and to be offering advice and counsel on different policy issues,” she said.

Creating public policy that works is a passion for Kilkelly. “Not sound bites, not ‘feel good,’ but it works. I think people deserve that,” she said.

Working with King will be a good fit for her, she said. She met with him a lot in her last eight years in the Legislature, which were his eight years as Maine’s governor.

King bases decisions on facts, not platitudes, and has a get-it-done attitude, she said.

Kilkelly said she wanted to help him get elected this year because she felt it was important to both Maine and the U.S. Senate. “He has an amazing ability to talk to both sides of the aisle, and I think that’s what’s needed to bridge that chasm in Washington,” she said.

Kilkelly plans to keep calling Maine and Dresden home rather than live full-time in Washington. She similarly commuted to New York City for three years while deputy director of the Council of State Governments' eastern office before she joined King’s Senate campaign last March.

Living here keeps her centered, and that’s important, she said. There are lots of eagles around, and when she steps out her door in July and August, columns of the prolific dragonflies that inspired the farm’s name are feasting on mosquitoes.

“This country girl’s not leaving the farm,” she said.

However, she has left political parties a number of times. She was Lincoln County’s first Democratic state senator since 1917, and remained a Democrat throughout her years as a lawmaker.

Later, she briefly turned Republican to vote for Peter Mills in a GOP primary for governor. She went back with the Democrats, but recently left the party again to lend her support to Americans Elect. The move was her effort to make a statement that people should be thinking outside the box when nominating candidates.

“It shouldn’t be so hard to get on a ballot,” she said. “People need choices.”

When Kilkelly gets around to retiring, she’d like to teach cooking classes. She and Murray both love to cook. And there’s the farm, which this year won cooperator of the year honors from the Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District.

But Kilkelly’s not ruling anything out of her future, including the prospect of seeking a return to elective office.

“I would never discount that possibility,” she said.

Kilkelly’s appointment was part of King's first round of hires for his Senate duties. She and the others hired so far are a diverse group politically, according to a press release.

“I am pleased to have this talented team joining me as we transition to Washington...” the Independent former governor stated in the December 21 release. “These are people who have strong reputations in Maine and who will serve the citizens well.”

King will be sworn in on January 3.

He’ll be well-served with Kilkelly on his team, Wiscasset Newspaper and Boothbay Register Editor Emerita Mary Brewer predicted. A cousin by marriage, Brewer recalled Kilkelly as a legislator who wanted to keep the public informed, and who worked tirelessly to solve problems people called her with.

“She would go to the ends of the Earth,” Brewer said. “She’s very, very dedicated.”

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.