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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]
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]
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]
| 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% | |||||||||||||
John Eder is an American activist and politician from Maine. Eder lives in Waterboro. He is a former member of the Maine Green Independent Party and the Maine Democratic Party. He served in the Maine House of Representatives as the legislature's first member of the Green Party for two terms and was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2004. Until his defeat in 2006 Eder was one of only a handful of independent or third party state legislators in the country and was the highest-ranking elected Green official in the United States. Eder ran for Mayor of Portland, Maine in 2011. In 2014, Eder won a race for an at-large seat on the Portland Board of Education.
The Maine Green Independent Party is a state-level political party affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is the oldest state green party in the United States. It was founded following an informal meeting of 17 environmental advocates, including Bowdoin College professor John Rensenbrink and others in Augusta, Maine in January 1984. From 1994 to 2006, the party's gubernatorial nominees received between 6% and 10% of the vote.
Michael F. Brennan is an American politician who formerly served as the 87th Mayor of Portland, Maine. Brennan, a Democrat, served as State Senator from 2002 to 2006 and Senate Majority Leader and a 2008 Democratic candidate for Maine's 1st congressional district. On May 15, 2011 Brennan announced his candidacy in the Portland, Maine mayoral election. On November 9, Brennan won the 15-candidate contest and became the first directly-elected mayor of Portland since 1923.
Ethan King Strimling is an American non-profit executive, television personality, and politician from Maine. Strimling was elected to 3 terms in the Maine Senate (2003–2009), one term a Mayor of Portland, Maine (2015–2019), serving one term. Strimling previously served as a Democratic state senator from 2003 to 2009. He was the Executive Director of LearningWorks, a West End non-profit organization, and has served as a political columnist and commentator for the Portland Press Herald.
The 2010 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Democratic governor John Baldacci was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010. The candidates who appeared on the November ballot were : Eliot Cutler (Independent), Paul LePage (Republican), Libby Mitchell (Democratic), Shawn Moody (Independent), and Kevin Scott (Independent).
Jon Paul Jennings is an American city manager, politician, and basketball coach. He formerly served as city manager of Portland, Maine, and Clearwater, Florida. He was also the founder, president, and general manager of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.
Portland, Maine, held an election for mayor on November 8, 2011.
The legislative branch of Portland, Maine, is a city council. It is a nine seat council, composed of representatives from the city's five districts, three councilors elected citywide and the full-time elected Mayor of Portland. The eight councilors are elected for three-year terms, while the Mayor is elected for a four-year term.
The Maine State Pier is a municipal-owned deepwater marine facility and music venue located at the intersection of Commercial Street and Franklin Street on the eastern waterfront in Portland, Maine.
The 2014 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Republican governor Paul LePage won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Mike Michaud, the U.S. representative from Maine's 2nd congressional district, and independent Eliot Cutler, an attorney and second-place finisher from the 2010 gubernatorial election. This is currently the most recent election that Maine elected a Republican governor. Primary elections were held on June 10, 2014.
Mark N. Dion is an American politician, law enforcement officer and lawyer from Maine, who has served as Mayor of Portland since December 4, 2023.
The 2018 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of Maine. It occurred along with elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Paul LePage was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term; he later unsuccessfully sought a third term in 2022. This was one of eight Republican-held governorships up for election in a state carried by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Portland, Maine, held an election for mayor on November 3, 2015. It was the second election since Portland voters approved a citywide referendum changing the city charter to recreate an elected mayor position in 2010.
Jill C. Duson is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and politician from Portland, Maine.
The 2022 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee and former governor, Paul LePage. Neither candidate faced any primary opposition. An independent candidate, Sam Hunkler, received 2% of the vote, the lowest total for a third party or independent gubernatorial candidate in the state since 1982.
Portland, Maine, held an election for mayor on November 5, 2019. It was the third election to be held since Portland voters approved a citywide referendum changing the city charter to recreate an elected mayor position in 2010.
Rachel Talbot Ross is an American politician and activist. A Democrat from Portland, Talbot has been the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives since December 2022. When she was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2016, Talbot Ross became the first Black woman to serve in the Maine Legislature. Talbot Ross represents District 40, consisting of the Parkside, Bayside, East Bayside, and Oakdale neighborhoods of Portland as well as the University of Southern Maine campus. She became Maine's first African-American House Speaker, and the highest-ranking African-American politician in Maine history, when she was elected speaker on December 7, 2022.
Katherine Merchant Snyder is an American politician who served as Mayor of Portland, Maine from 2019 until 2023. Prior to her election as mayor, she served as executive director of the Portland Education Foundation, a non-profit which raised funds for Portland Public Schools.
The 2023 United States elections were held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The off-year election included gubernatorial and state legislative elections in a few states, as well as numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local offices on the ballot. At least three special elections to the United States Congress were scheduled as either deaths or vacancies arose. The Democratic Party retained control of the governorship in Kentucky, flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, gained six seats in the New Jersey General Assembly, and won back unified control of the Virginia General Assembly, while Republicans also flipped the governorship in Louisiana and narrowly retained Mississippi's governorship. The election cycle also saw Ohio voting to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and legalize cannabis for recreational use. The results were widely seen as a success for the Democratic Party.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine were held on November 5, 2024, to elect both U.S. representatives from the State of Maine, one from each of the state's congressional districts. These elections coincided with five referendum questions, including a referendum to change the state flag, as well as the presidential election, a U.S. Senate election, and various other state, county and local elections. Primary elections were held on June 11, 2024.
Strimling, who lost to Snyder in 2019, said he has "no plans" to run for a vacant mayor position in 2023
