2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the mayor of Portland, Maine.
.png)
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
November 7, 2023
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.png)
.png)
.png)
Since 1923, municipal elections in Portland have not included formal partisan nominations. In September 2022, Mayor Kate Snyder announced that she would not seek re-election to a second term in office.[1][2] Mark Dion was elected mayor after five rounds of voting.[3]
Background
Since 2011, all mayoral elections in Portland have used instant-runoff voting,[4][dead link] a form of ranked-choice voting.
Nomination papers for the mayor, city council, and school board were available on June 30 and had to be returned between August 14 and August 28.[5]
Candidates
Official
- Pious Ali, at-large city councilor[6]
- Justin Costa, former city councilor[7]
- Mark Dion, city councilor, former state senator, former Cumberland County Sheriff, and candidate for governor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Democratic)[8]
- Dylan Pugh, software developer (Party affiliation: Democratic)[9]
- Andrew Zarro, city councilor, District 4 (Party affiliation: Democratic)[10]
Declined
- Emily Figdor, member and former chair of the Portland Board of Education[11]
- Michael Kebede, former chair of the Portland Charter Commission[11]
- Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic)[1][2]
- Ethan Strimling, former mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic)[11][12]
Endorsements
- Local officials
- Ethan Strimling, former mayor (2015–2019)[13]
- Local officials
- Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (first choice)[14]
- Local officials
- Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (second choice)[14]
Campaign
The major issues in the mayoral campaign included the ongoing housing crisis and homelessness crisis in the city.[15] The 2023 point-in-time count noted 4,258 unhoused individuals, 25% of which were considered chronically homeless.[16]
Another issue discussed on the campaign trail was a rise in hate speech.[15] Ali faced threats and harassment from the New England White Network,[17] City Council meetings faced zoom bombing,[18] and anti-semitic flyers were placed around the community on September 11.[19]
Results
| 2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election[citation needed] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||||||||||
| Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | ||
| Mark Dion | 8,839 | 39.43% | + 10 | 8,849 | 39.50% | + 60 | 8,909 | 39.88% | + 516 | 9,425 | 42.56% | + 1,325 | 10,750 | 51.55% | |
| Andrew Zarro | 5,902 | 26.33% | + 26 | 5,928 | 26.46% | + 363 | 6,291 | 28.16% | + 636 | 6,927 | 31.28% | + 3,180 | 10,107 | 48.45% | |
| Pious Ali | 4,894 | 21.83% | + 23 | 4,917 | 21.95% | + 362 | 5,279 | 23.63% | + 515 | 5,794 | 26.16% | - 5,794 | Eliminated | ||
| Justin Costa | 1,771 | 7.90% | + 4 | 1,775 | 7.92% | + 86 | 1,861 | 8.33% | - 1,861 | Eliminated | |||||
| Dylan Pugh | 908 | 4.05% | + 26 | 934 | 4.17% | - 934 | Eliminated | ||||||||
| George Rheault (Write-in) |
100 | 0.45% | - 100 | Eliminated | |||||||||||
| Total votes | 22,414 | 100.0% | |||||||||||||