The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member and transgender-identifying male Wil Theime, who goes by Ramona, secured victory in the Brunswick Town Council race by a single vote after campaigning on rent control.
[RELATED: DSA Endorsed Brunswick Town Council Candidate Wants Rent-Control for the Town…]
“I’m proud to announce that I won my race tonight… by one vote. Off to a recount,” said Theime on Bluesky.
Theime won the District 6 Town Council seat against incumbent Nathaniel Shed with 478 votes compared to Shed’s 477 tally, after running a radical socialist campaign focused on rent control.
“I think that a big part of the solution, ideally, would be a form of rent control, something tailored to the needs of Brunswick. I think the rent control down in Portland gives a lot of good ideas, though Portland is obviously a different place, a much bigger city with its own political character,” said Theime in an interview with WCME radio.
Theime was the only candidate across Maine to receive an endorsement from the Maine DSA in Tuesday’s election and is a member of that organization. He has also worked with non-profits that help illegal immigrants evade law enforcement through a hotline that warns them about ICE activity.
Thieme, a transgender-identifying male, was previously featured in a video from the First Amendment Museum under the name Wil Thieme, to discuss his perspective as a DSA member.
In May, the Portland Police Department arrested someone by the name of William Theime as part of a group of protesters who were allegedly blocking Commercial Street, though The Maine Wire could not confirm whether that was the same Wil Theime who won in Brunswick.
The Maine Wire reached out to Brunswick Town Clerk Fran Smith, who confirmed that, as of Wednesday morning, Shed had not yet requested a recount, though she expects that he will do so.
The Maine Wire also reached out to Shed, to ask whether he plans to request a recount, but he did not immediately respond.
Brunswick’s current District 1 councilor, W. David Watson, did not run for re-election, and his seat went to Richard Ellis, a former school board member whose campaign focused on concerns about rising property taxes and fiscal responsibility.
Incumbent District 2 Councilor James Ecker ran unopposed and retained his seat.
Sande Updegraph, the councilor for District 4, did not run for re-election. Her seat went to the liberal Corey Perreault, who previously expressed her enthusiastic support for the No-Kings protests.
Three school board seats were also open, with District 2 going to incumbent Elizabeth Bisson and District 6 to incumbent Elizabeth Sokoloff, both of whom ran unopposed.
The District 1 School Board incumbent, Mandy Merrill, did not run for re-election, and her seat went to Elizabeth Ketner, who ran unopposed. Ketner’s political affiliations are not clear from her campaign materials.
Update: After the publication of this article, Shed reached out to The Maine Wire to confirm that he has requested a re-count, which will take place on November 12.
