Voters pick Matthew Powers to fill open seat on Orono Town Council
Voters chose a political newcomer to fill an open Orono Town Council seat during Tuesday’s special election.
Matthew Powers was selected to fill the seat left vacant after Cheryl Robertson resigned from her unexpired term this summer. The term ends in March 2024.
Powers received 229 votes, according to unofficial results provided by Assistant Town Manager Belle Ryder on Tuesday night.
The other candidates, Catherine Thibedeau and Jacob Baker, received 203 votes and 112 votes, respectively. All three candidates were newcomers.
Orono voters cast 548 ballots in Tuesday’s special election, including four blank ballots, according to the figures provided by Ryder.
“Election is still going strong in Orono at 7:30 p.m.,” Town Clerk Shelly Crosby wrote on Facebook alongside a few photos.
During an election held March 14 to fill two open council seats, voters cast 785 ballots, including 288 absentee ballots. They chose newcomers Daniel Demeritt and write-in candidate Sarah Marx, who topped the ballot with the largest number of votes.
Powers is an editor for a science and nature imprint at Catalyst Press.
He moved from Minnesota to Orono nine years ago with his family. He grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he studied microbiology, then received his doctorate in molecular cell biology at the University of Utah.
Prior to the election, the 46-year-old said he would bring a family-oriented perspective to the council. Powers wants to protect amenities such as the public library, municipal pool, after-school programs, and parks and recreation programming, he said.
“I am interested in a culture where the town listens to its citizens and implements good ideas,” he said last month. “I’m also interested in continuing to use data-driven projections to make budgetary decisions.”