LePage elected
House, Senate races decided
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Paul LePage of Waterville will be the first Republican governor of Maine since John “Jock” McKernan, who occupied the Blaine House from January 1987 through January 1995. He also will be the state’s first Franco-American governor, winning the post with 216,759 votes or 38.33 percent of 565,539 votes cast.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
IN PRESQUE ISLE, 3,230 residents voted in this year’s gubernatorial election. City Clerk Nancy Nichols described the 46 percent voter turnout as “awesome.” With polls opening at 8 a.m., Nichols said there was “a line when we first opened the doors.” Here, voters flock to the William V. Haskell Community Center around 5 p.m. to cast their ballots.
Governor-elect LePage narrowly defeated Independent challenger Eliot R. Cutler of Cape Elizabeth who attracted 36.49 percent of the vote. Democrat Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell of Vassalboro finished the Nov. 2 gubernatorial race a distant third with 108,137 votes (19.12 percent) while Shawn Moody (28,632 votes) and Kevin Scott (5,673 votes) followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Of Maine’s 1,023,556 registered voters, just over 55 percent voted at the polls or through absentee ballot.
In Aroostook County where just under 50 percent of 53,484 registered voters weighed in, LePage carried the day with 42.43 percent of the vote, followed by Cutler with 27.94 and Mitchell with 19.84 percent. While Aroostook reflected the rest of the state in gubernatorial preference, voters in the St. John Valley supported Senate President Mitchell — 40 percent in Madawaska and 31 percent in Fort Kent.
In Presque Isle and Caribou, LePage pulled down nearly 42 percent of the vote (1,344 of 3,203 votes and 1,211 of 2,889 votes, respectively) while Mars Hill favored the Marden’s executive with 57.87 percent of the vote.
In southern Aroostook County, LePage carried the day with 62.76 percent of Hodgdon’s 521 voters and 45.85 percent of Houlton’s 2,022 voters. In Sherman, 279 of 521 voters favored LePage.
Aroostook County voters were evenly split on the Citizen’s Initiative for an Oxford County casino, voting 50.52 percent against the measure while Maine voters favored Question 1 by a 50.67 percent margin. At press time, opponents of the casino development were asking state election officials for a recount.
The other two referendum questions — increased access to dental care and a bond to support land conservation and working waterfronts — were favored by a very slim margin in Aroostook County and somewhat more popular on the statewide level.
In the race for Maine’s Second District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, incumbent Michael Michaud garnered 55.12 percent of statewide vote and defeated Republican challenger Jason Levesque of Auburn. Chellie Pingree, the First District incumbent, also retained her House seat.
Support in Aroostook County for Michaud, a Democrat from East Millinocket, for a third four-year term, was stronger with 58.02 percent of voters agreeing to send him back to Washington, D.C. However, Levesque was favored over Michaud in Washburn (318-260 votes), Mars Hill (356-244), Hodgdon (283-220) and Danforth (110-96 votes).
The incumbents in the race for Aroostook County Sheriff and Register of Deeds (south district) were also successful. Sheriff James Madore earned a third term over Republican challenger David Salkind of Easton, pulling in 61.36 percent of the county vote. Salkind was the top vote-getter in Washburn, Mars Hill, Hodgdon, Monticello and Sherman while he narrowly lost to Madore in Presque Isle, 1,573-1,550.
Incumbent Patricia Brown, a Republican, was returned to her Register of Deeds position with 67.86 percent of the vote in Aroostook while challenger Shelley Sylvester received 32.14 percent. Brown has held the position since 2002.
In other election news, Roger Sherman (R-Hodgdon) was re-elected to the State Senate representing District 34. Sherman received 8,029 votes (61.25 percent), while Democratic challenger Patrick Gordon of Houlton garnered 5,079 votes (38.75 percent). Sherman carried many communities including Presque Isle (1,754-1,366), Houlton (1,202-819) and Hodgdon (403-115).
Incumbent Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) fended off Daniel Deveau (R-Cyr Plantation) by a vote of 7,516-5,613 to reclaim his Senate District 35 seat.
Michael Willette (D-Presque Isle) retains his House District 5 seat. Willette defeated Republican challenger Jessica Chase Smith of Presque Isle by vote: 1,604-1,262.
In the race for House District 6, incumbent Tyler Clark (R-Easton) bested Democrat Nathan L. Smith of Blaine by a vote of 2,180 (68.36 percent) to 1,009 (31.64 percent). Clark not only carried the vote in his hometown (426-95) but in Blaine (191-122), as well.
Newcomer Alexander Willette (R-Mapleton) will be heading to Augusta representing House District 7. He defeated fellow Mapleton resident Democrat Troy Haines by a vote of 1,654 (54.2 percent)-1,408 (45.98 percent). In Mapleton, voters pledged their support to Willette by a vote of 492-383. Castle Hill voters also favored Willette (85-74), while the race was much closer in Chapman, which was won by Haines. He received 94 votes to Willette’s 90.
Locally, there were seven SAD 1 district seats available on the board of directors. Each district had one person running, unopposed, for the three-year terms. All candidates – Brent Buck, Curtis Culberson, Juliet Freeman, Barbara F. Ladner, Lucy Richard, Paul Saija and Carol Bell – were elected. All but Bell were incumbents.
There were two four-year terms available on the Presque Isle City Council with only two people running. Incumbent Emily Smith and Bruce Sargent were both elected.
Presque Isle City Clerk Nancy Nichols described this year’s voter turnout as “awesome.”
“It was a good election. Polls opened at 8 a.m. and there was a line when we first opened the doors,” she said. “There was a steady stream all day; it flowed nicely. Our election workers, the warden and ward clerk all did a super job. There were no glitches; it went just as smooth as silk.
“We had 3,230 voters participate in this year’s election, which is about 46 percent of the active voters in town,” said Nichols. “It was a little bit higher for a gubernatorial year. I think the referendum questions really brought a lot of people out, too.”
Nichols said 200 new voters were registered on Election Day alone, as well as several prior to that.
Editor’s note: Voting results were obtained from the Bangor Daily News’ website: maineelections.bangordailynews.com/.
