Former Democratic state Sen. James Boyle of Gorham Tuesday convincingly won a special election to fill the vacancy in Maine House District 27, which represents part of Gorham and part of Scarborough.
Boyle
With 879 votes, Boyle defeated two Gorham challengers. Republican newcomer Timothy Thorsen, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, tallied 593 votes, and unenrolled candidate Suzanne Phillips, a Gorham town councilor, had 70 backers.
A vacancy occurred in the district when Kyle Bailey, a Democrat, resigned in October. Boyle now will fill the remaining year of Bailey’s term.
Boyle, 63, said during the brief campaign period he “met with hundreds of voters from Gorham and Scarborough.”
“From talking with citizens on their front porches and door yards, the top issues I heard about were the partisan divide in politics, the need for more renewable energy, and keeping students, teachers and staff in school and safe,” he said in an email to the American Journal/Southern Forecaster.
“Regarding partisanship, I don’t know how many Republican or unenrolled votes I received, but what matters now is that I represent all of the citizens in District 27 and I want to hear from all of them,” he said.
A business owner who campaigned on environmental matters, Boyle topped the balloting in both towns.
In Gorham, Boyle tallied 807; Thorsen, 542; and Phillips, 67. Boyle took Gorham’s Ward 1-1 and absentee voting while Thorsen won in Ward 1-2.
A snow plow struck a ballot deposit box outside Gorham Municipal Center, Gorham Town Clerk Laurie Nordfors said. Nothing was lost or destroyed.
Alan Reed and his son, Nick, turned out to the polls in Gorham Tuesday to vote in a special election to fill a House District 27 vacancy. Robert Lowell / American Journal
“Public works immediately got the box open while I was in their presence, and I retrieved the ballots,” Nordfors said.
Thorsen said the secretary of state’s office notified him, Boyle and Phillips about the incident.
In Scarborough, Boyle had 72 backers; Thorsen 51; and Phillips, 3.
On a freezing day, 1,416 show of Gorham’s 7,424 registered voters turned out to cast ballots, representing a 19% turnout.
Scarborough’s voter turnout was not available before the newspaper’s deadline.
“We congratulate Gorham and Scarborough residents for selecting such an excellent candidate to represent them,” Drew Gattine, Maine Democratic Party Chair, said in a press release. “It’s increasingly clear that Mainers want forward-thinking leaders, committed to ensuring a bright future for our children. Jim Boyle will be a powerful voice in Augusta, speaking out for Maine’s families and for our natural environment.”
In his previous term in Legislature, 2012-14, Boyle had been the Senate chairperson of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and also served on the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee.
“I’ve been out of the legislature for seven years, and until October I hadn’t planned on running for office, so it will take me some time to get up to speed on what bills are in front of the Legislature in the emergency session that just started about a week ago,” Boyle said. “In general, I will look to support bills related to pandemic safety, renewable energy, energy efficiency, improvement to child protective services and tribal sovereignty.”
This story was updated Jan. 14 to add comments from James Boyle.
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