By Kate Irish Collins

kcollins@keepmecurrent.com

In accordance with the Maine Constitution, the Legislature has re-apportioned and re-numbered all the electoral districts across the state beginning with this November’s election.

In addition, with the deadline now past for filing nomination forms with the Maine Secretary of State’s office, the slate of party candidates running for the Legislature this fall has also been set.

Raphaelle Silver, director of communications for the secretary of state, said the Maine Constitution mandates that all congressional, legislative and county district lines be redrawn every 10 years following the national census.

To bring Maine more into alignment with other states, the congressional districts were redrawn for the 2012 election, but the state and county electoral districts were redrawn last year to take effect during the 2014 election cycle, Silver said.

She said all the districts would be redrawn again for the 2022 election. And, following tradition, the Legislature has also renumbered all of the newly drawn districts, with the House districts now running south to north and the Senate districts running north to south.

Silver said the electoral districts are drawn based on a variety of factors, but the most important factor is population, in order to better fulfill the one-man, one-vote ideal.

Under the Maine Constitution, the size of each electoral district is determined by dividing the number of senators and representatives into the number of inhabitants of the state. The final district lines are first established by an Apportionment Commission and are then affirmed by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. If the Legislature fails to act, the re-apportionment becomes the responsibility of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Then, Silver said, it’s up to the secretary of state to implement the election districts that were established, which includes providing district maps and a written narrative with geographic descriptions of all the newly re-apportioned election districts.

All seats in both houses of the Legislature are up every two years and all legislators are subject to an eight-year term limit, under the Maine Constitution.

With a number of longtime legislators now term-limited out of office, this year’s slate of candidates features a number of new names alongside incumbents. Several members of the House are also seeking to jump to the Senate, including Amy Volk, a Republican from Scarborough.

There are three recognized parties in Maine, the Democratic, Republican and Green. Primaries between candidates of the same party are scheduled for June 10 and the general election will be held on Nov. 4.

Party candidates had until March 17 to turn in their nomination forms to run for the Legislature, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Local races

In Windham, Standish and the other communities in the Lakes Region, there is a dual primary race for Senate District 25, formerly District 11, which includes Gray. In that district incumbent Richard Woodbury is not running for re-election. The candidates are Democrats Catherine Breen and Stephen Woods and Republicans William Gardiner and David Savage. Whoever wins the respective primaries will be the candidates for the November general election.

In Senate District 26, formerly District 12, former Secretary of State Bill Diamond, a Democrat, will take on Republican David Call. District 26 includes the towns of Standish, Windham, Casco, Raymond and Frye Island.

In Senate District 19, formerly District 13, which covers Bridgton, Naples and Sebago, incumbent James Hamper, R-Oxford, will take on Democrat Rose Rogers-Wells.

In House District 23, formerly District 102, which covers Standish, incumbent Michael Shaw, D-Standish, is facing a primary challenge from Michael Wakefield, a Green who ran in 2012. Republican Lester Ordway will face off against the winner.

In House District 24, formerly District 110, which covers Windham, Democrat Mark Bryant is taking on Republican Dennis Welch. Bryant held the District 110 seat for eight years prior to 2012. Welch is a Windham town councilor.

And in House District 25, formerly District 111, Patrick Corey is the Republican candidate who will face off against incumbent Jane Pringle, D-Windham.

In House District 65, formerly District 105, incumbent Eleanor Espling, R-New Gloucester, will take on Democrat Mark Stevens.

In House District 66, formerly District 103, which covers Casco and Raymond, incumbent Michael McClellan, R-Raymond, is facing a challenge from both Democrat Mary Fernandes, a Casco town councilor, and Green candidate Lisa Wiley.

In House District 67, formerly District 109, which covers Gray, Republican Susan Austin will face off against Democrat Bonnie Lewis. Austin held the District 109 seat from 2002-2010.

In House District 68, formerly District 101, incumbent Christine Powers, D-Naples, will face a challenge from former state Rep. Richard Cebra, who was also briefly chairman of the Maine Republican Party. Cebra held the District 101 seat for eight years prior to 2012.

In House District 69, formerly District 98, incumbent Lisa Villa, D-Harrison, will vie against Republican Phylis Ginzler.

A CLOSER LOOK

For more information about the reapportionment of Maine’s legislative districts, see www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/apport/apport.htm.