Area voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide a primary in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District that looks close on the Republican side, as well as a host of local elections.
Turnout is expected to be low in Tuesday’s election, but that’s normal. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has said 13 to 15 percent of voter-age people typically vote in primaries.
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Chief among the local elections in the area Tuesday is Augusta’s vote to spend nearly $12 million without a tax hike to renovate its Lithgow Library, nearly tripling its size and modernizing it. The project would be financed by an $8 million city bond and private money.
School budgets are also up for approval in many cities and towns, including districts based in Augusta, Gardiner, Hallowell, Wales, Somerville, Readfield and Winthrop. There are also primary races for the Maine Legislature and for municipal offices in cities and towns across the area.
In Skowhegan, 11 residents are running for two open selectman seats. Running for the three-year term are Michelle L. Cummings, Derek A. Ellis, Robert A. Holt, Richard E. Prentiss and Donald L. Skillings. The candidates are seeking to replace Steve Spaulding, whose term is up this month.
Six candidates are running for the one-year seat vacated by the retirement of Donald Lowe. The candidates are Thomas L. Batchelder Sr., Jennifer E. Olsen, Darla. L. Pickett, Siren B. Soren, Steve Spaulding and Tyler Terstegan.
There are also five candidates for four open seats on the School Administrative District 54 board. The candidates are Mark A. Bedard, Jeannie M. Conley, incumbent Karyn J. Curran, incumbent Margaret A. “Peggy” Lovejoy and Alfred M. Wilson.
In Madison, four candidates are vying for two seats on the Board of Selectmen. The candidates are John Ducharme III, Michael Edgerly, Brandon Hagopian and Wayne Wallace. The two seats are for three-year terms.
Three candidates are running for the School Administrative District 59 board of directors seat. The candidates are Kenneth Curtis, Troy Emery and Kristie LeBlanc.
Three candidates are also running for both the Board of Assessors and Madison Electric Works Board. Candidates for the assessor’s position include Douglas Denico, Robert Hagopian and Lewis Ouilette. For the electric works board position, the candidates are Douglas Denico, Brett Hagopian and Dennis Wright.
Voters will also consider a $3.2 million town budget, which represents a 5 percent reduction from the current budget of about $3.4 million, during Tuesday’s referendum vote. Residents were to consider the budget at a Town Meeting Monday night before the vote Tuesday.
Voters in Madison already approved a preliminary school budget that represents a small tax increase, but the new budget won’t be finalized until the referendum vote on Tuesday.
The $9.99 million school budget represents about a 3.4 percent increase from the current budget.
Voters of Fairfield-based School Administrative District 49 will vote whether or not to approve a 1.5 percent budget hike for the district on Tuesday.
Voters in Albion, Benton, Clinton and Fairfield will vote Tuesday to decide if they want to approve a tax hike for the SAD 49 budget, which is about $367,000 higher than the current year’s budget of about $24.77 million.
Voters in Norridgewock will decide Tuesday whether the town should establish a tax increment financing district around the town’s $350 million gas pipeline project.
In Athens, voters will elect a new selectman and two new directors of the Athens Municipal School Board on Tuesday.
There are four candidates for the selectman’s seat: John Barron, Mark Munn, Tim Small and Jamie Stafford.
On the school board, Gene Hay is running unopposed for a two-year term, while incumbent Karen Corson is challenged by Sean Boyd for the three-year term.
Voters in the Farmington-based Mt. Blue Regional School District will choose whether or not to approve a more than 4 percent increase in the school budget Tuesday, after about 100 initially approved the tax hike earlier this month.
The $1.29 million increase comes mostly from a $400,000 decline in state funding and $600,000 in built-in costs, such as contracted raises.
Also in Farmington, two candidates are running for one selectman spot. Michael Fogg and Matthew Smith are running for a two-year seat previously held by Andrew Hufnagel, who recently resigned from the board.
Wilton voters will decide the contested selectman position held by incumbent Terry Brann during a referendum vote Tuesday. Running against Brann are John Black, Scott Nichols Jr. and Gerald Whitney.
Michael Shepherd — 370-7652
Twitter: @mikeshepherdme
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239
Twitter: @jessescardina
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