SOUTH PORTLAND — Nomination papers in Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and South Portland have been filed and this year’s slate of candidates vying for municipal and school positions in the Nov. 5 election will include both new and familiar faces.
Absentee ballots are available in all three communities and must be returned by the time polls close on Election Day.
South Portland
Voters in South Portland will have ample choice as to who will represent them on the council. Five individuals are running for two at-large seats on the South Portland City Council, including incumbent Sue Henderson and challengers Margaret Brownlee, Katelyn Bruzgo, Richard Carter and Mary Drymon DeRose.
Long-time councilor Maxine Beecher is not running again. Except for a year off in 2013, Beecher has been on the city council since 2003.
The school committee will have one contested race. District 1 representative Jennifer Kirk will be fighting off a challenge from Thomas Fournier. District 2 representative Nicole Wiesendanger took out papers, but never returned them, meaning the District 2 seat will go unfilled at the November election.
Matthew Beck is running unopposed for another five-year term representing South Portland and Cape Elizabeth as trustee of the Portland Water District.
On Nov. 5, Voters in District 1 in South Portland will be casting their ballots at the Boys and Girls Club at 169 Broadway. Voters in District 2 will vote at American Legion Stewart P. Morrill Post #35 at 413 Broadway. District 3 and 4 voters will cast ballots and the South Portland Community Center on Nelson Road and District 5 voters will do the same at Redbank Community Center on Macarthur Circle West.
Scarborough
There will be three contested races for council and school board in Scarborough. Bill Donovan is seeking another term on the council, his third, and is being challenged for one of the two three-year seats by Betsy Glysteen, who unsuccessfully ran for school committee last year, Kenneth Johnson and Robert “Will” Rowan, who is looking to return to the council. Last year, Rowan ran for a second term on the council, but lost to Paul Johnson and Don Hamill in a four-way race for two seats. Current councilor Katy Foley is not seeking a second term.
Alicia Giftos is looking for one of the two three-year terms on the Scarborough Board of Education, along with Bryan Shumway and Kristen Turner. Giftos was elected last year to fill the final year of Jodi Shea’s term. Shea was recalled in May 2018 following a campaign to oust Shea, Donna Beeley and Cary Lyford by a group called Road to Renewal. The group was unhappy with the direction of the board and claimed it demonstrated a lack of leadership and transparency.
Incumbents Joseph Carroll and Paul Rodriguez are seeking additional three-year terms on the Scarborough Sanitary District Board of Trustees. Ruth Summers is running unopposed for a one-year seat.
In Scarborough, voters will be convening at Scarborough High School, where polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Cape Elizabeth
In Cape Elizabeth, three individuals are running for two seats on the town council. Incumbents Caitlin Jordan and Penelope Jordan are attempting to fend off a campaign from Leighton Farm Road resident Aaron Mosher.
Two seats on the Cape Elizabeth School Board will go uncontested. Incumbent Kimberly Carr is seeking another term and Philip Saucier is looking to join the board for the first time. Current chairman Susana Measelle Hubbs, whose term is up this year, is not seeking reelection.
Voters in Cape Elizabeth will be casting ballots between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. at Cape Elizabeth High School.
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