AUBURN – Mayor John Jenkins is not counting on a write-in campaign to put him back in office, but he won’t say no if he’s elected.

“No one has ever won a write-in campaign in Auburn, at least not when there have been candidates,” he said. “But if it happens for some reason, I’ll be happy to serve.”

Jenkins will finish a special one-year term this fall, designed to put Auburn’s regular municipal elections on an odd-year schedule like Lewiston’s elections.

Voters will go to the polls in November to select a mayor and City Council. Currently, Ward 3 Councilor Eric Samson and Fred Sanborn of 143 Mill St. are the only official candidates on the ballot for mayor.

Jenkins declined to seek re-election this summer, saying the job demanded too much time for him to do it properly and earn a living. Jenkins presents motivational seminars around the country for fees.

“But I’ve talked to hundreds of people in my travels around the city, and they said it was too bad I couldn’t serve one more term,” the mayor said. “They asked me if I’d serve if enough people wrote in my name.”

Jenkins said he would cut back on his mayoral activities if a write-in campaign is successful. He doesn’t plan to do anything to promote himself before the election, either.

“It’s just a matter of affordability,” he said. “I don’t have the dollars to mount a real campaign, with yard signs. But it’s an option. If people want me, they have to write me in. It’s a real simple process – all they have to do is spell my name right.”