By Zendelle Bouchard
Sanford and Springvale voters trickled into the polls on Tuesday, June 11 to cast their ballots in the annual school budget validation referendum and the mostly uncontested primary races for state, federal and county candidates. The school budget passed by a wide margin, with 852 votes in favor and 346 opposed. Eight ballots were left blank. The total of 1,206 votes cast for the school budget referendum represents just 7.6% of Sanford’s 15,851 registered voters. By contrast, 8.9% of voters cast a ballot on the school budget in 2022. That election also featured a 3-way race for a vacant seat on the City Council. In 2023, when there was no primary or other election held, only 3% turned out.
In the primary races, 556 Republican, 583 Democrat and 33 Green Independent ballots were cast. Unenrolled voters, sometimes referred to as independents and who outnumber those enrolled in either of the two major parties, were able to vote in the primary for the first time. They were able to choose either the Republican or Democrat ballot without having to change their party of enrollment to do so.
In the only contested race of the primaries, Ron Russell of Kennebunkport beat Andrew Piantidosi of Cape Elizabeth to become the Republican challenger to U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree in November. Russell was heavily favored by Sanford voters, garnering 74% of the votes here and 56% across the district.
In the primary races for our State Senator and State Representatives, all candidates ran unopposed. Sen. Matt Harrington will face off against Dan Lauzon in the November 5 general election. District 141 Rep. Luke Lanigan will be challenged by Patty Kidder, District 142 Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio will face Amy Bell, and District 143 Rep. Ann Fredericks will go up against Katie Manende Hall. We will have full coverage of those candidates as the election nears.
Complete election results, with vote counts by ward, are available here: https://www.sanfordmaine.org/departments/election___voter_information/election_results.php.
