FREEPORT — Freeport Democrats are lining up for a three-way primary race, with eyes on termlimited Rep. David Webster’s District 106 seat.

Town Councilor Sara Gideon, former State House staffer Patrick Norton, and social worker Melanie Sachs have all thrown their hats in the ring, and each said Thursday that they plan to stay in the race through to the June 12 primary.

Through this morning, the Maine Ethics Commission’s candidate registration website showed that no Republicans have filed to represent their party in the quest to replace Webster, who is completing his fourth consecutive term and is precluded by state law from seeking re-election.

District 106 includes all of Freeport and part of Pownal.

All three announced Democratic Party candidates intend to qualify for Maine Clean Elections Act funds, which would provide each campaign with $1,429 for the primary race and would prohibit their campaigns from directly raising additional funds.

To qualify for public campaign financing, each Maine House of Representatives candidate is required to solicit 60 individual $5 donations from voters registered in the district.

In a press release, Sachs cites her past work for U.S. Sen. George Mitchell as motivation to run for office.

Gideon said she chose to run out of concern for “ a number of proposed changes in Augusta,” which she identified as potential cuts to MaineCare and public education funding, as well as lightening of environmental regulations.

Norton, a retired director of the State House’s Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, said that 22 years of work in Augusta will allow him to “go in with eyes wide open and hit the ground running.”

The deadline to file nomination petitions for state legislative posts is March 15. Primary elections are scheduled for June 12. Maine voters will elect 151 House members and 35 state senators on Nov. 6.

Legislative redistricting, based on 2010 U. S. Census data, is scheduled to occur before the 2014 election.

dfishell@timesrecord.com