Portland elected three new city councilors Thursday, including two candidates who won ranked-choice runoffs early Wednesday morning.
April Fournier won the at-large seat, finishing with 59 percent of the vote after an instant runoff. Mark Dion won the District 5 seat with 57 percent of the vote after a runoff. And Andrew Zarro was elected Portland’s city councilor in District 4 after collecting 52 percent of the vote in a two-way race.
Portland decides all local races using ranked-choice voting. That means a candidate has to get more than 50 percent of the vote to win. If no one gets 50 percent after the initial vote count, the city holds an instant runoff by eliminating the last place candidate and distributing his or her votes based on the voters’ second choices.
Fournier, a 40-year-old member of the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation and special services manager at a local Head Start agency, was one of four candidates for the at-large seat being vacated by Jill Duson, who did not seek re-election.
She edged out Justin Costa, a 37-year-old accountant who left his District 4 seat on the council to seek one representing the entire city. Other candidates in the race were Laura Kelley, a 48-year-old retired pediatrician and former adjunct clinical professor; and Ronald Gan, a 70-year-old developer and real estate professional.
With all the first round votes counted, Fournier had 45 percent of the vote and Costa had 34 percent, while Kelley and Gan trailed. The runoff put Fournier over the top.
Dion is a former Cumberland County Sheriff and former state legislator. He topped three other candidates to win the open District 5 seat currently held by Kimberly Cook, who decided to step down after a single term.
District 5 includes the North Deering, Deering Center and Riverton neighborhoods.
The other candidates included John Coyne, who was trying to regain the seat he left in 2014; Kathryn Sykes, a founding member of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America; and Kenneth Capron, a former Republican legislative candidate.
Dion led the field with 38 percent of the vote after first round, and topped the 50 percent threshold in an instant runoff.
Zarro, 32, owns Little Woodfords coffee shop.
He defeated Rosemary Mahoney in the race for the seat being vacated by City Councilor Justin Costa after two terms. District 4 includes East Deering, most of the Back Cove and parts of the Deering Center and North Deering neighborhoods.
Zarro collected 52 percent of the votes and Mahoney finished with 48 percent.
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