BIDDEFORD — When Nancy Sullivan vacates the District 4 state senate seat, which at the end of the year she would have held for four consecutive terms, she hopes it’s not the end of her political career.
Sullivan, D-Biddeford, plans to take on Biddeford Mayor and State Rep. Alan Casavant, D-Biddeford, for the seat he currently holds in the Maine Legislature for House District 137.
Running against Casavant, whom she said has served his constituency well, wasn’t an easy decision, said Sullivan.
“I don’t relish this,” she said, adding that she had helped him campaign in the past.
Casavant said he hopes residents feel he has served them well and will reelect him this November.
Sullivan said she’s running because she believes Biddeford needs experienced people in the Legislature, especially if Republicans continue to hold onto the Blaine House and the Statehouse.
Sullivan noted that if Casavant wins the upcoming election in November, that will be the last term he can serve as a state representative, without taking at least one term off. State statute limits legislators to four consecutive two-year terms in each body of the Legislature.
Both Sullivan and Sen. Barry Hobbins, D-Saco, who also represents Biddeford, are serving their fourth term as state senators and will not be able to run for the senate this year.
Sullivan said she fears that with many of Biddeford’s experienced legislators being prohibited from running in November it will hurt the city.
According to Sullivan, she said that she had spoken with Casavant before his run for mayor, and she believed he would be running for the senate this time around.
Casavant confirmed that the two discussed that possibility but that nothing was set in stone. He said he chose to run for the house one more time because, “I’m not ready for the senate.”
He hopes his party will respect his decision to run for the house for a fourth term and support him, said Casavant.
Regarding the issue of term limits, Casavant said, “People are always being term-limited out” and that anything can change (regarding which party controls state government) in the next few years.
Two men have indicated they will run for the senate seat Sullivan is vacating. David E. Dutremble and Stephen R. Beaudette, both Democrats, have taken out papers to get the necessary signatures to be on the state Democratic primary ballot. Beaudette has served four terms as a state representative for House District 136.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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