{"id":12449,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/maura-herlihy\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:35:13","slug":"maura-herlihy","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/maura-herlihy\/","title":{"rendered":"Maura Herlihy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Currently deputy mayor of Sanford, having served on City Council since 2021. Served as interim mayor in 2013. Unsuccessfully sought House District 143 seat as Republican nominee in 2010. Served on Sanford Town Council from 2004\u20132009.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Finalizing a comprehensive plan allowing for zoning updates that protect our values while driving smart housing and commercial growth. 2. Supporting local businesses while fiercely protecting Sanford\u2019s unique ecosystem. 3. Ensuring local government remains highly responsive and practical regarding the daily, immediate needs of our 23,000 residents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Sanford is making historic progress, and I want to see these long-term projects through. With the $25 million federal investment in downtown, the Route 202 corridor and Number One Pond starting next year, plus ongoing housing development, our urban core is revitalizing. My institutional knowledge and community experience will be vital assets in sustaining this momentum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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What is the biggest challenge facing your town\/county? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Our biggest challenge is maintaining forward momentum amid rising living and municipal costs. However, this is also our greatest opportunity. By staying the course with our strategic investments in good schools, housing and infrastructure, we will attract the population and business growth needed to offset the tax burden and ensure long-term stability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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If you could change one thing about how the town\/county functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Neighboring towns face the exact same challenges: housing, schools, jobs and conservation. Rather than waiting on Augusta to lead, we need stronger regional dialogue and shared solutions. We must work collaboratively to protect the things we all value, because these challenges don't stop at the community borders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Do you support more development \u2013 i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town\/county? Why or why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Yes. Sanford is a community of 23,000 with a strong urban center surrounded by open space. Through the comprehensive plan, we can strategically increase density in areas with existing infrastructure. This allows us to aggressively grow our housing and commercial base while preserving the farmland and natural resources we all value.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7197,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Maura","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Anne","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Herlihy","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12447,"voter_guide_candidate_age":57,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Property manager","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Member, 2002 and 2012 Sanford Charter Commissions. Served on building committee for Sanford High, Tech School and Primary\/Middle School renovations. Past member, Sanford Downtown Legacy.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"B.A. from Mount Holyoke College","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1cCMMvRS7X6aW4YqJRsvIm5_3YgK5TEzw","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1186],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12449","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-non-partisan"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12853,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12449\/revisions\/12853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12449"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}