The candidates for mayor of Portland made final appeals for support Monday, shaking hands with downtown workers, going door-to-door in quiet neighborhoods and making the rounds at a popular after-work watering hole.

Similar last-minute efforts took place in communities across Maine, including in Biddeford and Lewiston, two other cities on the verge of choosing their mayors. Time runs out on the campaigns Tuesday, however, as voters across the state go to the polls to have their say on a wide variety of races and referendum questions.

Polls in most towns open by 7 a.m. and close in all towns at 8 p.m. To find out where you vote, go to Maine’s Voter Information Lookup Service.

All Maine voters will see the same three questions on the state ballot.

Question 1 seeks to revive Maine’s public campaign-financing system several years after a U.S. Supreme Court decision undercut a key part of the program in Maine and other states. If it passes, Question 1 would also require organizations to disclose the top three donors on political ads and stiffen penalties for campaign finance violations.

Mainers also will be asked whether they support two bond issues: $85 million for transportation projects such as road construction, bridge repairs and railroad infrastructure investments, and $15 million to help pay for the construction of new energy-efficient affordable homes for low-income seniors, as well as to repair or weatherize the homes of low-income seniors.

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In several of Maine’s largest cities, voters will elect mayors and decide on local referendums and bond issues.

In Portland, the ballot includes a three-way race for mayor. Mayor Michael Brennan, seeking a second term, is trying to fend off challenges from Ethan Strimling, who has garnered many political endorsements, and Portland Green Party leader Tom MacMillan.

Portland residents also will choose city councilors and school board members and decide the fate of two contentious referendum questions, one seeking to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour and another to protect scenic views from development or other disruptions.

Biddeford residents will elect a mayor in a race that was tainted by tension over sexual abuse allegations that roiled City Hall for months. Mayor Alan Casavant, who is seeking a third term, is running against political newcomer Daniel Parenteau. Both candidates condemned a recent anonymous Facebook post that asked explicit questions about Casavant’s sex life.

In Lewiston, the five-way race between Mayor Robert Macdonald and challengers Ben Chin, Steve Morgan, Luke Jensen and Charles Soule made headlines last month after signs against Chin generated a public outcry. The signs, widely denounced as racist, showed what appeared to be a caricature of former Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh and read “Don’t vote for Ho Chi Chin.” They were later removed by the landlord who hung them.

Many other communities will be choosing town councilors and school board members. Some, such as North Yarmouth, are voting on referendum questions that will guide public spending and development.

The Portland Press Herald website will have ongoing Election Day coverage, including results as they are released Tuesday night.


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