The legislative branch of Portland, Maine, is a city council. It is a nine seat council, composed of representatives from the city's five districts, three councilors elected citywide and the full-time elected Mayor of Portland. The eight councilors are elected for three-year terms, while the Mayor is elected for a four-year term.
The council is officially non-partisan, though councilors are often known for their political party affiliation.
In 1923, the city transitioned from a Mayor–council government to a Council–manager government. This was in alignment with national trends in metropolitan governments, and also partially motivated by the influence of the Maine Ku Klux Klan, which resented what was perceived as the growing power of ethnic and religious minorities.[1] In 2011 the city charter was changed to allow an election for mayor again in 2011. Subsequent elections were held in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
In 2020, voters approved a proposal to switch elections for City Council and school board to ranked-choice elections.
Mark Dion is an American politician, law enforcement officer, and lawyer. A former detective in the Portland Police Department, he was the elected sheriff of Cumberland County from 1998–2010. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2010–2016. While in the legislature, Dion advocated for marijuana legalization.[2] Dion ran for Governor of Maine in 2018, placing fifth in the Democratic Party primary.[3] In 2020, he was elected to the Portland City Council from the fifth district with 39% of the vote in a four-way race. In 2023, he announced that he would run for mayor later that year, and was elected over District 4 councilor Andrew Zarro, at-large councilor Pious Ali, and three other candidates.
District 1: Anna Trevorrow
Anna Trevorrow, a member of the Maine Green Independent Party,[4] is a former member of the Portland Board of Education from 2013 to 2021, and was elected to her first term on the city council in 2021.[5]
District 2: Victoria Pelletier
A native of Brunswick, Pelletier is a racial equity and economic development coordinator at the Greater Portland Council of Governments.[6] She was elected to her first term in 2021 by eighteen points.[7]
Anna Bullett is the director of health and nutrition programs at The Opportunity Alliance, which works with low-income people in Cumberland County. A native of Auburn, she was elected to her first term in 2023.[9][10]
District 5: Kate Sykes
Kathryn "Kate" Sykes is the former co-chair of the Maine branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, and remains a member of the organization.[11] She was a candidate for this seat in 2020, finishing as runner up to future Mayor Mark Dion. She was elected to the council in 2023 by a 57–43 margin.[10] She is a writer by profession.
At-Large: Pious Ali
Elected to the council in 2016 after serving one term (3 years) on the City's Board of Public Education 2013–2016. He won his race by 62% in a three-way race to replace the incumbent Jon Hinck. He was re-elected in 2019, and 2022 re-elected a third time in 2022.[8] He finished third in Portland's 2023 Mayoral election. Ali worked at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service. He is the founder and current Executive Director of http://portlandempowered.org. He is an alumnus of the Institute for Civic Leadership (now known as Lift360), and in 2015, was named Lift360’s Most Distinguished Alumnus. A native of Ghana, ( First Ghanaian to be elected into any public office in the US ) Ali immigrated to the United States in 2000, and has lived in Portland since 2002.
At-Large: April Fournier
Elected to the council in 2020, April Fournier is Diné and a native of New Mexico who previously worked for Unum. She is the National Program Director of Advance Native Political Leadership,[12] and is the first Indigenous person elected to the Portland City Council.[13] She was re-elected in 2023.[10]
At-Large: Roberto Rodríguez
Roberto Rodríguez is a native of Puerto Rico who previously served on the City's Board of Public Education and owns a garden supply company. He was elected in 2022 by 35 votes after a recount, with election night returns initially showing an exactly tied race.[14]
