Eligible Lewiston residents will have the chance to go to the polls on February 24 to participate in a special election to fill the House District 94 seat recently vacated by former Rep. Kristen Cloutier (D), Maine’s secretary of state announced on Monday.
Comprising a swathe of central Lewiston running from the Androscoggin River up Central Avenue and College Street and down Old Greene Avenue on the other side, the House district was swapped with one in Knox County during a re-districting in 2022.
Cloutier announced last month that she would be resigning from the House in favor of taking on a new role as chief-of-staff to Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D).
In a letter dated on Halloween, Cloutier said the decision was made with “mixed emotions,” calling it both an honor and a privilege to have represented the people of Lewiston. During her tenure, she co-sponsored legislation to create the Maine Family Medical Leave Program, along with an additional one percent tax for employers.
Cloutier wrote in her resignation announcement that the new position would allow her to continue working on public policy and also spend more time with her family as her daughter transitions from high school to college.
[RELATED: Lewiston Lawmaker Kristen Cloutier Resigns from Maine House, Joins Senate President’s Staff]
A few names have surfaced as possible candidates to succeed Cloutier. School Committee Member Janet Beaudoin, City Councilor Scott Harriman, and attorney and former school committee member Kiernan Majerus-Collins are considered three likely contenders at the moment.
Party nominations for candidates to run for the vacant seat are due to the Secretary of State’s office by 5pm on December 17.
Non-party candidates must obtain between 50 and 80 signatures from voters registered in House District 94 and submit the completed petitions to the Secretary of State by this same deadline. Signatures must be certified, however, by the municipal clerks prior to submission.
Write-in candidates must declare themselves by 5pm on December 23.
Non-party petition forms and write-in candidate declaration forms may be obtained by contacting the Elections Division of the Secretary of State at (207) 624-7650.
Whichever candidate wins on February 24 will complete the remainder of Cloutier’s two-year term in office.
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