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Harpswell voters supported the school district’s 2026-27 budget and backed Democrat Nirav Shah and Republican Bobby Charles in Maine’s gubernatorial primaries on Tuesday, June 9.
The vote in favor of the budget for Maine School Administrative District 75 was 1,647 to 367. Tuesday’s budget validation referendum was the final step in the lengthy review and approval process for the $61.2 million budget, an increase of 5.7% from the previous year. Harpswell must contribute about $12 million of the total from property taxes, a 6.2% hike.
Harpswell voters also backed two borrowing proposals for local schools: $115,772 for safety improvements to Region 10 Technical High School in Brunswick, 1,887 to 184; and $102,100 for an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom at Bowdoin Central School, 1,761 to 310.
The districts will borrow the funds from a state program that offers a combination of loan forgiveness and 0% interest.
The school budget and borrowing proposals are subject to approval by the other towns in the districts.
On the town ballot, voters adopted an amendment to Harpswell’s Animal Control Ordinance, 1,531 to 511. The change will allow town officials to fine dog owners who break leash rules on town properties, addressing what residents and town officials say is a growing problem.
Perhaps the biggest draw to the polls on Tuesday was the chance to select the major parties’ nominees for Maine governor and U.S. senator, among other races. Maine uses ranked-choice voting in the primaries. Totals reflect first-place votes.
The Democratic primary had the stronger turnout in blue-leaning Harpswell, with 1,434 ballots cast to 621 in the Republican contest. Maine has “semi-open” primaries, which means independent voters may choose to cast a ballot in either party’s primary.
Democratic voters backed Maine’s former public health chief, Shah, for governor, with 550 first-place votes to 304 for Shenna Bellows, 298 for Hannah Pingree, 165 for Troy Jackson, and 93 for Angus King III, according to unofficial results.
Statewide, Shah leads a close race as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday. He has 26.4% of the vote to 23.4% for Pingree, 21.2% for Jackson, 20.8% for Bellows, and 8.1% for King, according to the Bangor Daily News.
For U.S. Senate, Democrats supported military veteran and political newcomer Graham Platner with 978 votes to 286 for Maine Gov. Janet Mills, 141 for David Costello, and 4 for Andrea LaFlamme.
Platner cruised to victory statewide with 72.5% of the vote to 19.5% for Mills and 7.9% for Costello as of Wednesday morning, according to the Bangor Daily News. Mills had suspended her campaign in April.
In primaries for two regional positions, Democrats backed incumbent District Attorney Jackie Sartoris with 961 votes to 261 for challenger Valerie Adams. They supported Amy Leshure for county commissioner, with 968 votes to 122 for Joel Mahaffey.
Democrats also cast ballots in uncontested primaries, helping secure nominations for five incumbents: U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Maine Sen. Mattie Daughtry, Maine Rep. Cheryl Golek, Cumberland County Judge of Probate Paul Aranson, and Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce.
Harpswell Republicans, meanwhile, backed Charles for governor. The former official in the George W. Bush administration received 180 votes. Benjamin Midgley topped the rest of the crowded primary, collecting 118 votes to 113 for Jonathan Bush, 60 for Garrett Mason, 23 for David Jones, 19 for Owen McCarthy, 8 for Robert Wessels, and 4 for James Libby.
Statewide, Charles had 37.1% of the vote to 20.5% for Bush, 20.3% for Midgley, and 11% for Mason, according to the Bangor Daily News.
With no candidate securing more than 50% of the vote, both primaries for governor will be decided by the ranked-choice process.
In a contest for the 1st Congressional District between Joshua Pietrowicz and Ronald Russell, local Republicans supported Pietrowicz, 263-221. But Russell won the primary with 55.2% of the vote, according to the Bangor Daily News.
In uncontested primaries, Republicans cast votes for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and challengers for the Maine Senate and Maine House of Representatives. Bernard “Ben” Porter, of Harpswell, will challenge Daughtry for the local Senate seat; while Braeden Webber, also of Harpswell, will challenge Golek for the local House seat.
Altogether, 2,100 Harpswell voters cast ballots on Tuesday. The number represents 46.1% of the town’s 4,556 registered voters.
At the polls earlier Tuesday, a town election warden said officials were seeing “pretty strong turnout for a primary election.”
“I would estimate we’ve been welcoming about 100 voters an hour, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but we had already processed 800 people’s ballots by Saturday,” Amy Watson Saxton said, referencing early and absentee voters.
Watson Saxton said there are “really good candidates on both sides” and she thinks voters are “really excited” to order their picks under the ranked-choice system.
Harpswell residents care deeply about their school system, so the budget vote also drives turnout, she said.
“I’m always impressed by Harpswell. They vote. I grew up here and I’m always impressed by the amount of people that come out, no matter what we’re voting on. It seems like they just love coming out,” Watson Saxton said.
“It’s a really, really great thing to witness and be a part of,” she added.
Voter Suzanne Popejoy said she turned out because voting is a “civil duty.” She said she hopes to elect candidates for U.S. Senate and Maine governor “who will back our defense against our current president.”
“That’s the key,” Popejoy said. “And that’s why I wouldn’t miss it, even though I’m sick.”
Thaddeus Danforth, a retired woodworker and boatbuilder, said there were so many important issues at play Tuesday that it was hard to put one at the top of the list.
“I’d say probably taxes — town taxes,” Danforth said after a pause. He also wants to see change at the national level, and he was eager to cast his vote in the race for governor.
“If you don’t vote, you can’t complain,” Danforth said.
Hannah Miller contributed reporting.
