YARMOUTH — Incumbent state Sen. Dick Woodbury, U-Yarmouth, held off Republican challenger Chris Tyll early Wednesday in Senate District 11 to win one of the most expensive races for the state Legislature.

Woodbury defeated Tyll, 13,011 to 11,666, or 53 percent to 47 percent.

This will be Woodbury’s second term in the senate representing Chebeague Island, Cumberland, Falmouth, Gray, Long Island, North Yarmouth and Yarmouth. He unseated Sen. Gerald Davis, R-Falmouth, in 2010 and served in the House of Representatives from 2002-2008.

“We ran a campaign that had a positive message of being less partisan and more collaborative and problem-focused and I think that resonated with voters in the district,” Woodbury said.”I had a truly incredible campaign team that put in an amazing number of hours working on my re-election and I’m tremendously grateful for all that work.”

He said the message of his campaign was clear and that he hopes to continue to focus on growth in Maine’s economy.

“Maine’s economy continues to be the key challenge for the Legislature,” Woodbury said. “There’s some good work going on with bipartisan or nonpartisan groups that I think could lay foundation for much more successful economic future for Maine. It’s not something I can accomplish by myself. A lot of the ground work has been laid to be to make policy changes we need to be effective, now we just need to act on it.”

Tyll, whose campaign spent more than $72,000 on the election, compared to Woodbury’s $11,400, was seeking his first elected office.

He did not immediately return phone calls Wednesday morning.

Will Graff can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or wgraff@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @W_C_Graff.

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Dick Woodbury

Chris Tyll