CARIBOU, Maine — Election results are in, and the people of Caribou overwhelmingly accepted candidates Mark Goughan and Hugh Kirkpatrick to the City Council with a respective 1,017 and 1,022 votes. Incumbent Nicole Cote, who served a partial term after Councilor Shane McDougal resigned, also was elected with a total of 588 votes.
RSU 39 School Board incumbents Ronald Willey and Jan Tompkins ran unopposed, and won with respective 1,316 and 1,247 votes. Likewise, incumbent Kevin Barnes ran unopposed to retain his seat on the Jefferson Cary Hospital Board, and won with 1,438 votes.
On state issues, Caribou voters were mostly aligned with the rest of Maine.
They overwhelmingly opposed the development of a casino in York County by 1,296 to 394. That referendum question also was handedly shot down statewide. Caribou, along with the rest of Maine, also supported allowing $105 million to be spent fixing the state’s infrastructure. In addition, Caribou and the rest of the state, on average, accepted a constitutional amendment that would give Maine an extra ten years to recoup losses in the state’s pension fund.
Caribou resident Vinal Wilcox, who voted at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center on Nov. 7, said he was against the York County casino.
“I don’t care if there is another casino in Maine,” Wilcox said. “We don’t need to be another Las Vegas; we need to put our emphasis on getting rid of the drugs in the area. We have small towns that are usually good little towns, and meth labs are cropping up everywhere and they’re not doing anything about it. I think we need to focus on that instead.”
Caribou voters opposed Question 2, which allows for Medicaid expansion, with 974 against it and 711 in favor. While this question did pass statewide, it succeeded by a more narrow margin than the other three.
Joel Theriault of Caribou explained his opposition to Question 2 after casting his vote.
“I think we’re paying enough money,” Theriault said. “If we vote, ‘Yes,’ it’s just going to cost the state more money. That’s my opinion.”
According to election results from the BDN and Associated Press, total votes in Limestone aligned with the state results, with voters opposing the casino, but favoring medicaid expansion, the infrastructure bond, and stabilization of pension funding.
Woodland, New Sweden, and Stockholm also voted no on Question 1, and yes on the next three.
