Pride

Mayor Misha Pride was reelected to the South Portland City Council in District 3 and Linda Cohen won the District 4 seat in close races Tuesday.

Pride receiving 4,048 votes to opponent Richard Matthews’ 3,573, according to unofficial results. Cohen received 4,128 votes while her opponent, Margaret Brownlee, received 3,299.

With 475 votes deciding his race, Pride said while “he can’t be thankful enough” for his return to office, he is concerned about there being a divide in the community.

“It was a very tight race,” he said. “I think we all just need to make sure that the sort of dividing lines that might have been drawn during the campaign don’t become permanent divisions in our community.”

He emphasized that he will listen to all of his constituents.

“I want to take an example from my opponent,” he said, noting that people he’s spoken to say that Matthews, chairperson of the South Portland School Board, is a good listener.

Cohen

“I hope that those who may have voted against me understand that I will listen to them … I will absolutely be someone who listens to both sides on issues,” he said.

Cohen, who served on the council from 2012 to 2018, pointed out that none of the city’s elections Tuesday were landslides.

“I think the demographics of South Portland are changing,” she said. “We’ve got to keep in mind that, whenever the majority wins, there’s a pretty big minority out there these days that don’t want to be forgotten … we’ve got to listen to them.”

She brings no agenda to the council, she said, and hopes to make the same impression in her new term that she made before.

“That is that I brought forward some good ideas when it was appropriate, that I listened to people, that I weighed all of the different testimonies I received on issues before the council, and made the best decision I could for the entire city,” she said.