SACO (AP) — The youngest openly gay legislator in the country when he was first elected four years ago has won a Democratic primary race in Senate District 31 in York County.
Rep. Justin Chenette beat political veteran Barry Hobbins for the opportunity to run for the seat vacated by longtime Sen. Linda Valentino.
The 25-year-old Chenette will face Republican William Gombar of Old Orchard Beach in November.
Hobbins and Chenette demonstrated a contrast over how they’d work with Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Hobbins stressed that he’d been able to work with LePage, while his younger opponent stressed his willingness to stand up to LePage.
Chenette had 56 percent of the vote in unofficial returns.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less