TOPSHAM
The rush to represent Senate District 19 is not over.
The Maine Green Independent Party is poised to nominate a candidate, which would bring the number of announced candidates for the seat to five.
The seat was formally vacated upon the end of the legislative session Tuesday when Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall, D-Richmond, resigned to become regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
A date for the special election has not yet been set.
Greens in District 19 will choose a candidate for the seat during a caucus in the Topsham Municipal Building, 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, according to party spokesman John Rensenbrink.
State Senate District 19 includes the municipalities of Arrowsic, Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Georgetown, Perkins Township, Phippsburg, Richmond, Topsham, West Bath, and Woolwich in Sagadahoc County, and Dresden in LIncoln County.
All Greens registered as members of the Maine Green Independent Party living in these towns are encouraged to attend the caucus, Rensenbrink said.
The candidate would join a field that’s getting crowded quickly — especially on the left.
Seeking the nomination on the Democratic side are Will Neilson, a lifelong Republican and Bath restaurateur, of Arrowsic; Eloise Vitelli, of Arrowsic, who has been endorsed by Goodall; and Bath City Councilor David Sinclair. That party caucus has yet to be scheduled.
The sole Republican candidate thus far is Paula Benoit of Phippsburg, who represented District 19 after state Sen. Art Mayo switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2007, giving the Democrats a one-vote majority in the Senate. She served only one term before losing to Goodall in a close election that went to a recount in 2008.
Some observers expect Bruce Poliquin, the former state treasurer from Georgetown who recently turned down a bid to become chairman of the Maine Republican Party, to enter the race.
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