This story is for subscribers only. Subscribers and donors help fund BDN’s in-depth political analysis, campaign finance investigations, and first-in-the-nation race calls. All election results, live analysis and voting information are free to access as a public service. Subscribe for $1 for 3 months right now.
Waterville Mayor Michael Morris won a second term in Tuesday’s election, beating Matthew Boulerice for the second time in three years.
Morris, a Democrat, had 4,022 votes to 2,012 for Boulerice, a Republican, according to unofficial results. The city is one of the few in Maine to use parties for local races.
Morris beat Boulerice easily in 2023 to win his first three-year term. This time, Boulerice framed the race around leadership, asking voters at a Morning Sentinel forum last month whether the city is more affordable, safer or more efficient than it was three years ago.
Morris, who works for Bank of America, argued the city was recovering from frequent city manager turnover and that careful leadership takes time. He pointed to economic growth, including Amazon’s planned facility on the Waterville-Sidney line.
He vetoed this year’s budget in July, saying it leaned too heavily on the city’s undesignated fund balance. Boulerice said he would have kept the City Council from passing a budget the mayor had to veto.
Boulerice, a real estate developer, also called for courting developers more aggressively and for more accountability in the city’s approach to addiction and homelessness.
Morris will begin his second term in January.