SACO — With four out of five municipalities reporting results at press time, current District State Rep. 15 Democrat Justin Chenette of Saco has beatrn Biddeford Republican Tim Sevigny in the race for State Senate 31 seat.

District 31 includes Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Limington, Hollis and part of Buxton. As of press time, Hollis had not published its election results, and Chenette was beating Sevigny 11,125-7,663.

The Senate seat is being vacated by Senator Linda Valentino.

Chenette, 25, is an advertising executive with the Journal Tribune, owner of Chenette Media LLC and president/CEO of Saco Bay Center for Civic Engagement. He has an associate degree in TV news and a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from Lyndon College and has served as state representative from 2011 to present.

“It’s been a long election cycle, but all the hard work and positive campaign efforts paid off,” said Chenette. “Thank you to everyone who has stood by me through everything and to Sen. Valentino for her public service. Today we celebrate, but tomorrow it’s time to get to the real work ahead to improve our state.”

Sevigny is a firefighter/paramedic and a small business owner.

He posted a comment on his Facebook page after the majority of results were in.

“What a great run! Thanks everyone for you support! Congratulations and best of luck to Justin Chenette,” he wrote.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].