The South Portland City Council Courtesy photo
SOUTH PORTLAND – In a recent South Portland City Council meeting, councilors voted to send a letter to Gov. Janet T. Mills, requesting her to declare a vacancy for the unexpired term ending December 2024 in State Representative House District 122. The decision followed considerable public input urging the council to fill the vacant seat, left by the death of Lois Galgay Reckitt on Oct. 31, 2023. After hearing from residents who opposed the date, the council voted to request an earlier election.
Reckitt, a Democratic advocate for women’s rights, died at 78 from colon cancer. She led Family Crisis Services for 36 years, was elected to the State Legislature in 2016, and co-founded the Human Rights Campaign Fund.
“The council took up this vote on Dec. 12, 2023, after receiving considerable input from the public requesting they fill the seat. The special election to fill HR122 for the unexpired term will be held March 5,” said Emily Scully, city clerk/registrar of voters.
Candidates for the seat include Matthew Beck, Tristram Howard and Brendan Williams.
The candidate who is elected by the voters in House District 122 will serve the remainder of the two-year term that ends in December of 2024.
According to the municipal officers’ position paper, when a vacancy arises in the office of representative to the Legislature, affected municipalities can inform the governor, urging a special election before the next general election. Mills and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows signed the proclamation announcing a special election for the Maine House District 122 seat will be held Tuesday, March 5, responding to the city council’s 6-1 vote to formally declare the seat vacant.
House District 122 covers South Portland districts 1 and 2. The city council’s formal request to the governor aligns with the statutory process outlined in M.S.R.A. Title 21-A Section §382. The letter also directed the city clerk to notify Mills upon passage and administer the special election under the guidance of Maine’s secretary of state.
Non-party candidates had to circulate petitions and obtain the signatures of at least 50, but not more than 80, registered voters in House District 122. The deadline to submit the petitions to the secretary of state was Dec.29, 2023, after first having the signatures certified by the South Portland city clerk. Write-in candidates had to declare their candidacy by Jan. 3, 2024.
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