Kate Snyder was elected Portland’s next mayor Tuesday night.
Snyder appeared to have an insurmountable lead after the first round of voting. The Portland Press Herald reports Snyder collected 39 percent of the votes in the first round of vote counting. After Ethan Strimling and Travis Curran were eliminated during a runoff, Snyder finished with 62 percent of the votes and Spencer Thibodeau trailed with 38 percent.
In other mayoral races, Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant narrowly held on to his seat, winning by about 100 votes. In Saco, city councilor William Doyle upset incumbent Marston Lovell. Michael Foley won a four-way race in Westbrook. In Lewiston, Mark Cayer bested Tim Lajoie by a little more than 700 votes.
It was a historic night in Lewiston as the city will have its first Somali American council member. CBS 13 reports Safiya Khalid won her seat in ward 1. According to the Sun Journal, she is also the youngest person to hold a seat on the council, at just 24 years old.
Maine voters overwhelmingly approved the two statewide ballot questions. One provides $105 million in bonds for transportation improvements. The other creates a constitutional amendment that allows people with disabilities to use alternative methods to sign citizen-initiated petitions.
