Martin Grohman will be the next Mayor of Biddeford. Trent Bell
BIDDEFORD — Martin “Marty” Grohman will be the new mayor of Biddeford. He earned 2,894 votes on Tuesday, beating his opponent former state senator Susan Deschambault by 671 votes.
Outgoing Mayor Alan Casavant decided not to run for re-election after serving as the city’s mayor for 12 years, clearing the path for new leadership.
Casavant endorsed Grohman on the campaign trail, saying “he operated a successful business and understands the value of a dollar. He proved, while in the Maine Legislature, that he was an independent thinker, looking out for what was best for our community, and not for what was politically expedient. … He is a doer, not merely a talker.”
While mayor, Casavant supported the revitalization of the city’s downtown and oversaw the closing down of a waste-to-energy plant in 2012, which triggered development and economic growth in the area where the former plant had been and the surrounding mill district.
Chuck Cote, a Biddeford resident, cast his ballot for Grohman. “I liked his overall (involvement) within the community from his business background, to his community work,” Cote wrote to the Biddeford Courier, reflecting on Grohman’s experience.
Grohman has said he wants to not just support Biddeford’s downtown, but also make the city’s rural and suburban areas a part of his focus.
Grohman currently represents Ward 3 on the Biddeford City Council where he is a member of the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force and the Climate Change Working Group. He previously co-founded a manufacturing company and was the executive director of E2Tech, a council of organizations committed to advancing Maine’s cleantech economy. He also served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2014 to 2018.
His opponent, Susan Deschambault currently sits on the city’s Planning Board. She was also a Biddeford city councilor for Ward 4 from 2005 until 2009, and later served as the region’s state senator from 2016 to 2022.
“While it was not the result we hoped for, it was deeply rewarding to connect with so many of you over these past few months,” Deschambault wrote on Facebook. “Biddeford is the city I love, and I will always have our community’s best interests at heart. I extend my congratulations to Mr. Grohman and the councilors-elect.”
City Council
Voters opted to re-elect Councilors At-Large Marc Lessard and Doris Ortiz. They garnered 3,021 votes and 2,384 votes, respectively.
The third candidate in the race — voters selected two candidates out of three for the at-large seat — was Gregg Shapiro, a self-described B2B media sales aficionado who moved to Biddeford in 2021. Shapiro received 1,736 votes. Roger Beaupre beat Jason Litalien for city councilor representing Ward 3, the seat vacated by Grohman, 481 to 417.
Beaupre worked for the Biddeford Police Department for multiple decades. In 1981 he became chief of police and held that position until he retired earlier this year. Jason Litalien is a lawyer and owner of the firm Litalien Law in Biddeford. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Alan Casavant in 2019.
Incumbents William Emhiser in Ward 1, Scott Whiting in Ward 2, Bobby Mills in Ward 4, Julian Schlaver in Ward 5, Norman Belanger in Ward 6, and Liam LaFountain in Ward 7 ran for their City Council seats unopposed and were returned to office.
School Committee
Biddeford voters decided that Lisa Vadnais, Marie Potvin, Michele Landry, Meagan Desjardins, Randy Forcier, Rebecca Henry and John McCurry Jr. will sit on the School Committee for the December 2023 to December 2025 term.
Potvin and McCurry Jr. are new additions to the School Committee.
Referendum
A bond to improve Biddeford Primary School, that would allow space for the city’s kindergarten students, was approved.
Voters voted in favor of the referendum question that read: “Shall the Order of the Biddeford City Council entitled “Order Authorizing Issuance of $9,000,000 of the City’s General Obligation Bonds to Construct, Equip and Furnish an Addition to the Biddeford Primary School” be ratified and approved?”
The referendum passed 3,253 to 1,581.
The authorization of $9 million in bonds would support improvements at the Biddeford Primary School so that the city can close the John F. Kennedy Memorial School, which first opened in the 1960s and is need of costly repairs in order to remain up to code.
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