By Ed Pierce
Significant choices made by voters during Tuesday’s general
election will shape the direction of the Windham and Raymond communities for
the near future.
Through in-person voting, mail-in and absentee balloting, area
voters decided the fate of a special referendum in Raymond to withdraw from RSU
14 and chose elected officials to represent Windham and Raymond in the Maine
Legislature, the Maine Senate, on the RSU 14 Windham School Board and picked
two councilors to serve on the Windham Town Council.
In Raymond, Town Clerk Sue Look said that a total of 3,149
voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.
The Raymond referendum asking residents if they should
withdraw from RSU 14 was defeated with 2,048 votes to 1,018 supporting the
proposal.
The
referendum was initiated over an ongoing concern from some Raymond residents
regarding the town’s level of input and the lack of local control about the
school district’s decisions and it was part of a 22-step process required by
the State Department of Education to set up a new school district. But those
opposed to the withdrawal said it would do more harm to students than good and
the voters agreed by voting no on the referendum.
seat overall with a total of 3,085 votes to Susan Accardi’s 1,669 and Mark Grover’s 913 votes.
Voting for Maine House District 66, representing part of
Raymond, part of Casco and part of Poland, incumbent Democrat Jessica Fay
received 1,251 votes from Raymond residents to Republican Gregory Foster’s
1,060 votes. Overall, Fay won the seat with 2,884 votes to Gregory Foster’s
2,745 votes.
“I am grateful to everyone who came out and voted today, and
in particular to everyone who worked so incredibly hard to make a day with
record breaking turnout run smoothly,” Fay said. “We ran a completely positive
campaign focused on ideas and collaboration and I am so proud of that. Maine
will face serious challenges in the next two years, and I am ready to help us
meet them, together."
In Windham, Town Clerk Linda S. Morrell said results of
Tuesday’s election are official.
Morrell said that in voting for Maine House District 24 representing
part of Windham, incumbent Democrat Mark Bryant ran unopposed and received
4,638 votes, while incumbent Republican Patrick Corey also ran unopposed and
retained his seat representing District 25 by picking up 4,334 votes.
In balloting for State Senate District 26 representing Baldwin, Casco, Frye Island, Raymond,
Standish and Windham, Democrat Bill Diamond received 7,426 votes in
Windham to Republican Karen Lockwood’s 3,784 votes. Voters in Raymond cast 1,779
votes for Diamond to Lockwood’s 1,289 votes and overall, Diamond retained his
seat in the Maine Senate.
"I want to
congratulate my opponent, Ms. Lockwood, for running a thoughtful and positive
campaign.
Mostly, I want to thank the voters of Windham, Raymond, Standish,
Casco, Baldwin and Frye Island for your overwhelming support at the polls,”
Diamond said. “Once again I’m humbled by your tremendous endorsement of
confidence."
Voters chose businessman Mark Morrison to serve a three-year
term as the At-Large position on the Windham Town Council over former town
councilor Robert Muir. Morrison received 5,521 votes to Muir’s 3,739 votes.
In
the race for a three-year term representing Windham’s East District on the town
council, Brett Jones received 5,102 votes to political newcomer Harrison Deah’s
3,621 voters. Jones, a captain in the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department and a
longtime Windham resident, was appointed
by the town council in April to fill the remaining months of the East District
seat vacated by the resignation of Councilor Rebecca Cummings in February.
Also elected during Tuesday’s voting were incumbents Kathyrn
Brix and Pete Heansler to three-year terms on the RSU 14 Windham School Board. Brix
received 6,864 votes and Heansler tallied 4,315 votes.
Voters also elected Christina Small of Windham to serve a
one-year term on the RSU 14 Windham School Board. Small had been appointed to
serve on the board earlier this year following the resignation of Dawn Dillon.
She tallied 8,570 votes.
“My priorities for this year will be helping to align our
procedures with ever changing regulatory guidelines, the improvement of our
distance learning program and continuation of our Social Emotional Learning
work,” Small wrote about her candidacy in a letter to the editor last month.
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