PORTLAND — Final results for the City Council and school board races put incumbents back in office.

Nicholas Mavodones Jr., a five-term incumbent and four-time mayor, faced a spirited challenge from 30-year-old Wellington “Wells” Lyons for an at-large seat on the council.

Final results, including absentee ballots, gave Mavodones the win, 16,826 to 13,237 votes.

Mavodones, 52, ran on his 15-year record as a city councilor and did not offer specific ideas for a sixth term, although he promised to make investment in education his top priority.

Lyons, a lawyer and co-owner of Rogue Industries, vowed to be a responsive councilor with new ideas and new energy. He wanted to bring free wireless Internet downtown, stop giving tax breaks to developers, and support local business growth and recruitment.

Lyons, who received the endorsements of two-term incumbents David Marshall and Kevin Donoghue, said he had more than 100 volunteers signed up on his website and knocked on more than 5,000 doors, mostly off the peninsula, where he also sent 9,500 mailers.

He had a significant fundraising advantage over Mavodones, who raised only $650 to Lyons’ $14,000.

However, Mavodones spent $1,470 in the final days for campaign signs, according to a finance report filed Monday.

Donoghue won his bid for re-election to the District 1 seat, the area east of High Street, including downtown, Munjoy Hill, Bayside and the islands.

Donoghue, 33, an administrator at Spectrum Cos., faced Justin Benjamin Pollard, 40, owner of Pollard Builders, an ecologically sustainable building company.

Final results gave Donoghue the win, 3394 to 2,016 votes.

Donoghue ran on a platform of increasing housing and transportation options. Pollard, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate and was recruited by local Democrats to run for the council, wanted to try some big ideas on the local level.

A two-term incumbent, Marshall, 34, faced Shane Boyington for the District 2 seat – representing the area west of High Street, including the West End, the Arts District, Parkside and University of Southern Maine neighborhood.

Boyington, 34, a college student with a background in social work and a hobby of dressing in drag, was critical of Marshall’s performance as a councilor, saying he neglected to concentrate on small neighborhood issues in favor of big ideas, like bringing a fixed rail street car to Portland.

Marshall ran on a platform of transportation, housing and education. Marshall won reelection with 3,999 votes against Boyington’s 1,450.

SCHOOL BOARD

Incumbent Jenna Vendil faced a challenge from Thomas Kelley, a 26-year-old with a political science degree. Vendil said she views herself as a “connector” between the schools and the community, because most residents do not have kids in the school system.

Final results gave Vendil the win with 2,738 votes to Kelley’s 2,007.

Political newcomers Jeanne Swanton and Holly Seeliger faced off for the District 2 seat, representing the West End, on the Portland Board of Public Education, while Sarah Thomspon was uncontested for the at-large seat.

Seeliger won the race, 3,065 votes to 2,108.

Swanton, 45, a stay-at-home mother who worked in Manhattan as a top executive for an international financial conglomerate, faced Seeliger, 26, an ed tech for the Regional Alternative Learning School in Falmouth. Seeliger, who is also connected to the Occupy Maine movement and enjoys burlesque dancing as a hobby, said she would offer a voice independent of Parent Teacher Organizations. She favored expanding school gardens, vocational training and investing in school infrastructure.

Swanton, a co-chair and treasurer of the Reiche School PTO, said she’s bringing to the board 17 years of financial experience, including a stint as vice president of Citigroup Inc. She said she intends to concentrate on equity among schools, adult literacy and implementing new math and science curricula.

 

Staff Writer Randy Billings can be contacted at 791-6346 or at: rbillings@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @randybillings

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