2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election

2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election

←  2019 November 7, 2023 2027 →

Candidate Mark Dion Andrew Zarro First round 8,839 39.43% 5,902 26.33% Final round 10,750 51.55% 10,107 48.45%   Candidate Pious Ali Justin Costa First round 4,894 21.83% 1,771 7.90% Final round Eliminated Eliminated

Mayor before election Kate Snyder Elected mayor Mark Dion

The 2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the mayor of Portland, Maine.

Since 1923, municipal elections in Portland have not included formal partisan nominations. In September 2022, Mayor Kate Snyder announced that she would not seek re-election to a second term in office. ^{[1] [2]} Mark Dion was elected mayor after five rounds of voting. ^[3]

Background

Since 2011, all mayoral elections in Portland have used instant-runoff voting, ^[4] a form of ranked-choice voting.

Nomination papers for the mayor, city council, and school board were available on June 30 and had to be returned between August 14 and August 28. ^[5]

Candidates

Official

• Pious Ali, at-large city councilor ^[6]
• Justin Costa, former city councilor ^[7]
• Mark Dion, city councilor, former state senator, former Cumberland County Sheriff, and candidate for governor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Democratic) ^[8]
• Dylan Pugh, software developer (Party affiliation: Democratic) ^[9]
• Andrew Zarro, city councilor, District 4 (Party affiliation: Democratic) ^[10]

Declined

• Emily Figdor, member and former chair of the Portland Board of Education ^[11]
• Michael Kebede, former chair of the Portland Charter Commission ^[11]
• Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic) ^{[1] [2]}
• Ethan Strimling, former mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic) ^{[11] [12]}

Endorsements

Pious Ali

Local officials

• Ethan Strimling, former mayor (2015–2019) ^[13]

Mark Dion

Local officials

• Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (first choice) ^[14]

Andrew Zarro

Local officials

• Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (second choice) ^[14]

Campaign

The major issues in the mayoral campaign included the ongoing housing crisis and homelessness crisis in the city. ^[15] The 2023 point-in-time count noted 4,258 unhoused individuals, 25% of which were considered chronically homeless. ^[16]

Another issue discussed on the campaign trail was a rise in hate speech. ^[15] Ali faced threats and harassment from the New England White Network, ^[17] City Council meetings faced zoom bombing, ^[18] and anti-semitic flyers were placed around the community on September 11. ^[19]

Results

2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election[ citation needed ]
Candidate	Round 1			Round 2			Round 3			Round 4			Round 5
	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%
Mark Dion	8,839	39.43%	+ 10	8,849	39.50%	+ 60	8,909	39.88%	+ 516	9,425	42.56%	+ 1,325	10,750	51.55%
Andrew Zarro	5,902	26.33%	+ 26	5,928	26.46%	+ 363	6,291	28.16%	+ 636	6,927	31.28%	+ 3,180	10,107	48.45%
Pious Ali	4,894	21.83%	+ 23	4,917	21.95%	+ 362	5,279	23.63%	+ 515	5,794	26.16%	- 5,794	Eliminated
Justin Costa	1,771	7.90%	+ 4	1,775	7.92%	+ 86	1,861	8.33%	- 1,861	Eliminated
Dylan Pugh	908	4.05%	+ 26	934	4.17%	- 934	Eliminated
George Rheault (Write-in)	100	0.45%	- 100	Eliminated
Total votes													22,414	100.0%

References

1. Ohm, Rachel (September 12, 2022). "Portland Mayor Kate Snyder won't seek reelection in 2023". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
2. Hirschkorn, Phil (September 13, 2022). "Portland mayor opts out of second term, will campaign to preserve current system of government". WMTW . Retrieved September 23, 2022.
3. Schroeder, Nick (November 8, 2023). "Dion, Portland's version of a law-and-order candidate, wins mayoral race". Maine Morning Star.
4. Ranked Choice Voting City of Portland, Maine
5. "Race for Portland mayor heats up as City Councilor Andrew Zarro enters". Yahoo Finance. May 9, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
6. Hoey, Dennis (August 1, 2023). "City Councilor Pious Ali joins growing field in Portland mayoral race". Press Herald. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
7. Ohm, Rachel (July 18, 2023). "Former Portland city councilor enters race for mayor". Press Herald. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
8. Bartow, Adam (June 29, 2023). "Portland city councilor, former sheriff, announces run for mayor". WMTW. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
9. "New candidate for Portland mayor throws hat in the race".
10. Ohm, Rachel (May 9, 2023). "Race for Portland mayor heats up as City Councilor Andrew Zarro enters". Press Herald.
11. Ohm, Rachel (September 13, 2022). "With Kate Snyder stepping aside, who will run for Portland mayor?". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
12. "Despite Election Day failures, progressive reforms could still be in Portland's future". Strimling, who lost to Snyder in 2019, said he has "no plans" to run for a vacant mayor position in 2023
13. Strimling, Ethan (October 25, 2023). "Opinion: Why I am voting for Pious Ali for Portland Mayor". Maine Beacon.
14. Writer, Grace BenninghoffStaff (October 19, 2023). "Kate Snyder endorses Mark Dion, Andrew Zarro for Portland mayor". Press Herald. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
15. Cover, Susan (September 21, 2023). "Portland mayoral candidates address homelessness crisis". Spectrum News . Retrieved October 1, 2023.
16. Bader, Emily (May 21, 2023). "Homeless people ponder next destination as Portland housing crisis intensifies". The Maine Monitor. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
17. "Pious Ali on LinkedIn: Hello, Portland community! I don't usually share the racist attacks I... | 16 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
18. Clarke, Talia (September 20, 2023). "Hate speech disrupts Portland City Council meeting, brings Mayor to tears". WMTW. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
19. Bennett, Troy R. (September 11, 2023). "Antisemitic 9/11 flyers appear in Portland on anniversary of attacks". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved October 1, 2023.