Portland is a port city and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people,the 104th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Historically tied to commercial shipping,the marine economy,and light industry,Portland's economy in the 21st-century relies mostly on the service sector and tourism. The Old Port is a prominent neighborhood known for its nightlife and 19th-century architecture. Despite the economic shift,the Port of Portland was still the second-largest tonnage seaport in New England as of 2019.
York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine,along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County,New Hampshire,by the Salmon Falls River and the connected tidal estuary,the Piscataqua River. York County was permanently established in 1639. Several of Maine's earliest colonial settlements are found in the county,which is the state's oldest and one of the oldest in the United States. As of the 2020 census,its population was 211,972,making it Maine's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Alfred. York County is part of the Portland–South Portland,Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Wells is a resort town in York County,Maine,United States. Founded in 1643,it is the third-oldest town in Maine. The population was 11,314 at the 2020 census. Wells Beach is a popular summer destination.
Angus Stanley King Jr. is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maine since 2013. A political independent,he served as the 72nd governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003.
The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland,Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities,Gorham Normal School and Portland University. The two universities,later known as Gorham State College and the University of Maine at Portland,were combined in 1970 to help streamline the public university system in Maine and eventually expanded by adding the Lewiston campus in 1988.
The Downeaster is a 145-mile (233 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak and managed by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA),an agency of the state of Maine. Named for the Down East region of Maine,the train operates five daily round trips between North Station in Boston,Massachusetts,and Brunswick,Maine,with 10 intermediate stops.
Portland High School is a public high school established in 1821 in Portland,Maine,United States,which educates grades 9–12. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district,and is one of three high schools in that district,along with Deering High School and Casco Bay High School. It is located at 284 Cumberland Avenue in downtown Portland. Along with its sister school,Deering High School,a family can choose which of the two to send their students to.
Kennebunk High School is a public high school located in Kennebunk,Maine,United States. It is part of Maine Regional School Unit 21 for the towns Arundel,Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. The school currently has 692 students enrolled. In 1982–83 and in 1990–91,Kennebunk High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School. It is currently a First Amendment School.
Mark W. Lawrence is an American lawyer and Democratic politician currently serving in the Maine Senate. Lawrence represents Senate District 35,comprising the towns of Eliot,Kittery,Ogunquit,South Berwick,York and part of Berwick. Lawrence was born in Kittery and attended Bowdoin College and the University of Maine School of Law where he was elected to his first term in the Maine House of Representatives. He has served a total of three terms in the Maine House and is serving his sixth nonconsecutive term in the Maine Senate,where he served as president from 1996 to 2000. Lawrence was the 2000 Democratic United States Senate nominee,challenging incumbent Olympia Snowe,and in 2008 he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Maine's 1st congressional district. Lawrence pursued private law practice for 14 years before becoming the York County District Attorney from 2003 to 2010. In 2010,he returned to private practice and operates the Lawrence Law Firm out of Kittery.
William Joseph Kayatta Jr. is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
G. William Diamond is an American Democratic politician,educator,small business owner,legislator and former Maine Secretary of State. Diamond currently serves in the Maine Senate representing Senate District 26,which comprises the towns of Windham,Raymond,Standish,Casco,Baldwin and Frye Island.
Joseph Gerard Rafferty is a professional footballer who plays for EFL League One club Portsmouth. Rafferty can operate as a fullback,wingback and as a midfielder. Born in England,he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level.
Eloise A. Vitelli is the majority leader of the Maine Senate. She is a Democrat representing Senate District 24,which serves all of Sagadahoc County and the adjacent town of Dresden,Maine in Lincoln County. Vitelli was first elected to the Maine Senate in a 2013 special election,but lost her re-election bid in 2014. She was re-elected in 2016,2018,2020,and 2022. Vitelli began working as an entrepreneurship trainer in the early 1980s and was the director of program and policy for New Ventures Maine for 38 years. She became the Assistant Senate Majority Leader in December 2020,and Majority Leader in February 2021.
Matthea Elisabeth Larsen Daughtry is the Assistant Majority Leader of the Maine Senate. She is a Democrat representing Senate District 23,which serves Brunswick,Chebeague Island,Freeport,Harpswell,Pownal,and part of North Yarmouth. Daughtry served as a representative to the Maine House from District 49 from 2012-2020.
The 2018 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the next 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 a third consecutive term in office and he later unsuccessfully ran for a third term in 2022.
Kennebunk station is a former train station located off Depot Street in Kennebunk,Maine. The station opened in 1873 and closed in 1965;it is now occupied by a private business. Planning began in 2014 to add Kennebunk as a stop on the Amtrak Downeaster route,but the town cancelled the project in 2018.
Edmund Claxton Jr. is an American physician and Democratic politician from Maine. He serves in the Maine Senate representing District 20,which includes Auburn,Mechanic Falls,Minot,New Gloucester,and Poland. Claxton was born in Massachusetts and attended Princeton University,the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine,and the University of Minnesota where he completed his family medicine residency. He then moved to Maine and co-founded a private practice in Auburn where he worked for several decades. Claxton was first elected to the Maine Senate in 2018 and was re-elected in 2020 for a second two-year term.
2020 Maine Question 1 was a people's veto referendum that sought to reject a new law which eliminated religious and philosophical exemptions from school vaccination requirements and for employees of nursery schools and health care facilities. The question appeared on the March 3,2020 statewide ballot.
Louis Luchini is an American Democratic politician and former professional long-distance runner from Maine. Luchini served in the Maine Senate representing District 7,Hancock County from 2018 to 2022. Luchini was born and raised in Ellsworth,Maine and began running competitively in middle school. He was a state champion runner at Ellsworth High School and continued to Stanford University where he earned a degree in human biology and was an all-American runner. Luchini graduated from Stanford in 2004 and signed a contract with Nike to run professionally,also participating in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2004 and 2008. He returned to Maine in 2009,joined the cross-country coaching staff at Ellsworth High School and ran for the Maine House of Representatives in 2010. Luchini served four terms in the Maine House before running successfully for the Senate in 2018. In 2020,Luchini was re-elected to Senate District 7 for a second two-year term. In January 2022,he resigned from the Senate to accept a job in the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Donna Bailey is an American politician and attorney from Maine. A Democrat,she serves in the Maine Senate representing District 31,which includes her residence in Saco,as well as the towns of Old Orchard Beach,Hollis,Limington and part of Buxton. Bailey grew up in Berlin,New Hampshire,and attended Berlin High School,Bates College and the University of Maine School of Law. She worked in real estate law,family law and probate law in private practice and was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2016. In 2020,Bailey was elected to her first term in the Maine Senate.
