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Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and former City Council President Rick LaChapelle will meet in a December runoff after neither won a majority in Tuesday’s five-way mayoral race.
LaChapelle had 45.7% of votes to 35.3% for Sheline, according to unofficial results. The third-place finisher, political newcomer Brian Beaulieu, had 10.6%, businessman Jay Rodrigue had 4.5% and perennial candidate Charles Soule had 3.9%.
Lewiston requires a December runoff between the top two finishers when no candidate wins more than 50 percent. Sheline beat former state Rep. Jon Connor with just over 51% of votes after going to a runoff three years ago.
Sheline, a Democrat in the nonpartisan office seeking a third two-year term, was the only candidate to answer the Sun Journal’s questions on crime, taxes and the economy. He pointed to code enforcement, a new homeless shelter, police recruitment and business growth as signs of progress.
LaChapelle, a former council president who lost his seat in a 2023 election upended by the mass shooting that killed 18 people in the city, called for freezing property taxes at current levels and accused Sheline of lacking leadership on youth gun violence.
The race in Maine’s second-largest city centered on public safety after a spate of youth gun violence, along with property taxes and economic growth. The police department is short more than a dozen positions, the Sun Journal reported.
The campaign’s final days were also shaped by federal prosecutors’ review of early-voting footage from City Hall after a conservative news outlet accused interpreters of coaching Somali-American voters. The Justice Department sent election monitors to Lewiston polls Tuesday.