When Pat Flood retired, he says, he wanted to do one of two things: Either become a minister or a lawmaker.

Not exactly your typical pair of career choices, but it's an instructive illustration of Flood's character. He decided to be a lawmaker, got himself elected to the Maine House of Representatives from House District 82, and, in his thoughtful, evenhanded and almost non-partisan approach to legislating, he could be mistaken for your community pastor.

Republican Flood joined with Democratic leader Sen. Libby Mitchell last term, for example, to sponsor a bill that expanded the state's school breakfast program -- hardly a position that pleased his fellow GOP lawmakers, but a measure that responded to the growing hunger among his constituents as well as across the state.

And his bi-partisan work on the Legislature's important Appropriations Committee has been essential to passing reasonable budgets that balance strategic investments with necessary cuts during economic hard times.

Flood is running for his third term, and the Kennebec Journal endorses him for re-election to the House of Representatives.

Flood's challenger is Priscilla Jenkins, a Winthrop town council member. Jenkins strikes us as a caring, dedicated town official with mostly the right positions on issues: she favors school consolidation if it's handled well at the local level; she opposes raising taxes, though she will vote against Question 1 on the November ballot, which would raise taxes on many beverages to fund the Dirigo insurance program.

We also commend Jenkins for maintaining her political interest. She lost to Flood during his last re-election bid, then won a seat on the Winthrop City Council, and now is opposing Flood -- who she respects -- again. Jenkins is a good, first-term town councilor and, with more seasoning and experience, could mature into being the kind of cool-headed, respected lawmaker that Flood already is.