Portland City Councilor Anna Bullett has announced a reelection campaign for the District 4 seat in November, when she will likely face at least one challenger.

Bullett, elected in 2023, said on Wednesday that she always intended to run for more than one term, seeing a need to build relationships that result in progress on city issues.

“True change that’s going to last builds at the speed of trust,” she said.

During her first term, the council passed ReCode Portland, ambitious updates to the city’s zoning ordinances; signed onto the Vision Zero pedestrian safety effort; established a new emergency management plan, and more.

When asked about the issue of homelessness, which Bullett listed among her priorities during the 2023 campaign, she said the city has made progress, but continues to be a service hub for Maine.

Bullett, who chairs the city’s health, human services and public safety committee, pointed to the success of city staff in finding permanent housing for nearly 700 people in 2025, but said demand for shelters remains high. She said the cost of living, and decisions at the federal level, aren’t helping.

She feels the frustration from the public, but said it’s often “targeted either at individuals or at the city and not at the system that created that circumstance.”

She’s hoping another term will allow her to continue projects that will likely shape the city for decades, including tough decisions on the future of public buildings like the Portland Expo.

Bullett, as a political newcomer, received 58% of the vote in 2023 in District 4, which includes East Deering and parts of the Back Cove, Deering Center and North Deering neighborhoods.

Now 42, Bullett is the director of health and nutrition programs at The Opportunity Alliance, which serves low-income residents of Cumberland County. She has two children in Portland schools.

Jake Viola, who ran unsuccessfully for an at-large seat in 2024, announced a District 4 run on social media this week, stating that he’d be a visible and available presence in the district.

“Let’s make Portland the example for what’s possible in city government,” he said in the announcement. “Some will be cynical. We’ll prove them wrong.”

Portland council seats also up for reelection in November are an at-large seat now held by April Fournier and the District 5 seat held by Kate Sykes. In recent weeks, both Fournier and Sykes announced they will not run for reelection, with Fournier vying for House District 114 in the Maine Legislature.

While nomination papers for municipal seats aren’t available until June 1, several people have filed Clean Elections finance registrations ahead of a November run.

So far, three people — Todd Chretien, Jakobi Delgado, and Ilma Lopez — are registered as candidates for the District 5 seat.

Once papers become available June 1, at-large candidates must have a minimum of 300 signatures from registered Portland voters, while candidates for district seats need a minimum of 75 signatures from registered voters in their district.