5️⃣ A progressive councilor joins a crowded mayoral field in Portland.
◉ There are five candidates running for mayor in Maine's largest city after Councilor Pious Ali declared his candidacy on Monday evening. A Ghana native, he has lived in Portland since 2002 and became one of the state's first African-born officials when he went to the school board in 2013.
◉ He joins two other councilors — Andrew Zarro and Mark Dion — in the race to replace the outgoing Mayor Kate Snyder. Also running are former Councilor Justin Costa and political newcomer Dylan Pugh.
◉ After Snyder's exit, each of Portland's first three elected mayors in more than century will have only served one term. The first, Michael Brennan, lost to the second, Ethan Strimling, then he finished third behind Snyder in 2019. One source of strife has been the limited authority vested in the position, which led to a strong-mayor charter amendment that failed in the 2022 election.
◉ Portland is an overwhelmingly Democratic city where the political divide is generally between those more connected with the business community and a class of more progressive activists. Dion was a liberal state lawmaker but falls closer to the first category in Portland, while Costa lies more toward the middle, Zarro is on his left and Ali is further to the left as a longtime Strimling ally.
◉ Those different alliances will make for an uncertain race in November. Portland also uses ranked-choice voting in city races, adding another layer of intrigue to the election.
🇺🇸 The governor announces plans for an Office of New Americans.
◉ Gov. Janet Mills said Wednesday that she is charging her policy office with coming up for a plan for an Office of New Americans within state government. The focus would be incorporating immigrants into the workforce and Maine communities, the Democratic governor's office said in a release.
◉ The move came in an executive order on Wednesday that set a target date of January 2024 for the office to be up and running. It was supported by groups including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Catholic Charities Maine.
◉ It intersects with one of southern Maine's biggest problems at the moment: a lack of housing and other services for a wave of asylum seekers who have come to the state in recent months. Officials in Portland and other affected areas have been lobbying Mills to take a more active role in supporting the city. |
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