BRUNSWICK — Matthea “Mattie” Daughtry defeated Stan Gerzofsky Tuesday, 6,859 to 1,768, according to unofficial results, in a Democratic primary election for state Senate District 24.

Meanwhile, Poppy Arford earned 894 votes in a Democratic primary for state House District 49, beating Kathy Wilson, who had 655, and Corinne Perreault, who had 609. But since Arford received fewer than 50% of the votes, Maine’s ranked-choice voting measure forces a second round of votes to be tallied.

Ranked-choice voting, first used in Maine’s 2018 primary election for races of three contenders or more, allows people to choose candidates in the order they prefer. The lowest-ranked candidate is cut in each round until two candidates remain, so Perreault has been eliminated, leaving Arford and Wilson for a second tabulation. Brunswick Town Clerk Fran Smith said the second tally is in the state’s hands, and she did not know when it will be held, but Arford said she thought it could be within a week.

Arford

“It’s not a done deal yet at all,” Arford said Tuesday night. “Kathy Wilson could still win this race.”

Daughtry will face Republican Bradford Pattershall this fall for the seat now occupied by Sen. Brownie Carson, D-Harpswell, who is retiring after two terms in Augusta. Carson replaced Gerzofsky in that role upon his 2016 election. Gerzofsky spent 2008-16 representing District 24; before that he represented Brunswick in the state House of Representatives from 2000-08.

Daughtry was first elected to House District 49 in 2012 and is termed out after four terms. House District 49 covers part of Brunswick.

Senate District 24 includes Brunswick, Freeport, Harpswell, North Yarmouth and Pownal. Daughtry won Brunswick, 3,710 to 725; Freeport, 1,515 to 560; Harpswell, 729-313; North Yarmouth, 681-91; and Pownal, 224-79.

Daughtry said Tuesday that she was “feeling really, really honored, humbled, grateful and excited. It’s just been an incredible race.”

It’s been an election like no other, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, she said, and “we couldn’t campaign the way we normally do. (But) I have an incredible campaign team, and we were quick and nimble to adapt.”

If she wins the second tabulation, Arford will face two fellow Brunswick residents, Republican Carole Graves and Green Independent Fred Horch, at the polls this fall in a bid to replace Daughtry.

Daughtry

“I have this amazing campaign team, and it really was … 100% a team effort,” Arford said. “I could never have even begun to do this on my own.”

Arford performs service work in healthcare as a patient representative, advocate, and leader. She served on the Brunswick Town Council from 1988-1991, and has been a member of the Brunswick Democratic Town Committee and Maine Health Data Organization Board of Directors. She is a Right Care Alliance Steering Committee member, Patient Council co-chair of the Maine Attorney General Consumer Mediation Service, and a Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program volunteer.

Wilson, a pet groomer, has spent the past six years as an at-large member of the Brunswick Town Council.