SANFORD — Every person in the running for Sanford’s municipal election Nov. 6 is uncontested in their bid for office.

That means barring a successful write-in campaign — and there were no declared write-in candidates as of Monday afternoon — everyone on the ballot will be elected.

In Sanford, councilors and School Committee members run at large. There are two vacancies for City Council this year — incumbent Lucas Lanigan is seeking re-election, and Ayn Hanselmann is seeking her first term as a city councilor. Councilor Fred Smith did not take out nomination papers for a third City Council term.

Mayor Thomas Cote is unopposed for a third term.

Candidate Donald Jamison, who was a member of the Sanford School Committee some time ago, is on the ballot and poised to rejoin the board Jan. 1, the date new terms commence following the Nov. 6 election.

City Clerk Sue Cote said those considering a write-in campaign must file a declaration of write-in candidacy by the close of business on the 10th business day following the filing deadline of nomination papers — which is 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 21.

Also unopposed are incumbent candidates for the quasi-municipal Sanford Water District and Sanford Sewerage District. John Cochin is seeking another term on the water district while Paul A. Demers is looking to be re-elected to the sewerage district.

While there have been occasions in the past when candidates for Sanford School Committee have been unchallenged on election day, council slots typically see more candidates than vacancies.

In 2014, there were four candidates for a one-year City Council term and three candidates for two, three-year council terms. Both candidates for School Committee were unopposed.

In 2015, there were six candidates for two, three-year council terms and a two-way race for a one year term; the sole School Committee candidate that year was unopposed.

In 2016, there were six candidates for two, three-year City Council terms and two candidates were unopposed for School Committee.

In 2017, there were four candidates for two City Council terms and three candidates for two School Committee terms.

It is unclear why there weren’t more candidates. Russell Haskell had taken out nomination papers but did not return them by the 4:30 p.m.deadline on Sept. 7, nor did incumbent School Committee member Jonathan Mapes.

Mapes, reached by phone on Monday, said he loved “every minute” of his two terms on the Sanford School Committee but has too much on his plate to continue at this juncture.

“Don Jamison is a spectacular replacement,” said Mapes, pointing out Jamison is a prior chairman of the School Committee and current president of the music boosters organization.

Haskell could not be reached for comment.

Spokesman Eric Conrad of the Maine Municipal Association, a nonprofit advocacy and service organization for Maine’s over 400 municipalities, said the lack of candidates might be a sign residents are happy with the performance of their elected officials.

“This kind of thing may indicate a respectable level of trust in local government,” said Conrad. “Municipalities in recent years have dealt with a lot of challenges, from drastic cuts in state revenue sharing to rising sea levels to opioid abuse to legalized marijuana. They’ve done a good job overall. Local government is the level that citizens have the most access to and that they know is the most cost-efficient.”

Asked if citizen apathy plays a role in people deciding to not run for office, Conrad said, “Maybe it’s a town of 3,000 people and ‘only’ 40 show up at town meeting,” he said. “Are people not engaged? But then an issue comes along – it was wind power in rural towns not long ago – and that same town has 400 people at its next town meeting, so people re-engage very quickly.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.