SOUTH PORTLAND – South Portland Republican Louis Maietta Jr. will face Democratic state Rep. Cynthia Dill of Cape Elizabeth in the race to represent Maine State Senate District 7. The winner will finish the term being vacated by state Sen. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, who is leaving to take a job in California.

At a meeting April 2, the Cumberland County Republican Committee selected Maietta to represent the party, and the Cumberland County Democratic Committee followed Tuesday night by choosing Dill.

Dill was picked over Paul Aranson, an attorney from Scarborough; Tom Blake, a current member of the South Portland City Council; and Rob Schreiber, a professor at Southern Maine Community College and a member of the South Portland Comprehensive Plan Committee.

The district comprises South Portland, Scarborough and part of South Portland. The special election to fill the seat is scheduled for May 10.

If Dill is elected to fill out the remainder of the term, a special election would be scheduled to replace Dill in the state House of Representatives.

Dill, who has owned her own law practice since 1994, is in her third term in the Legislature and serves as a member of the Judiciary and Ethics Commission and as chairwoman of the Broadband Strategy Council.

In September she was appointed the vice chairwoman of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Communication, Financial Affairs and Interstate Commerce Committee. She is a former member of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council and also works as the director of the Common Cause Digital Democracy Project in Washington, D.C., and as an adjunct faculty member at Southern Maine Community College.

Maietta, who owns and manages commercial properties in the area, is also no stranger to local and state politics. He served on the South Portland City Council from 1999 to 2001 and in the Maine House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004.

“My goal is very simple, be the voice of Senate District 7, work to keep my fellow colleagues focused on positive results and listen to the voters,” Maietta said in a press release. “I worked very well across party lines my entire life. I rarely see issues on a party basis, this is Maine, we are all in this together.”

Bliss, who in November was re-elected to his second term in the Maine State Senate after eight years as a state representative, announced his resignation on March 15. His last day is April 15.

State Sen. Cynthia Dill
Louis Maietta Jr.