LEWISTON — With five mayoral candidates guaranteed spots on the November ballot, City Clerk Kathy Montejo said she’s had to reacquaint herself with the city’s runoff rules.
The City Charter requires candidates to get a majority of the vote — meaning at least 50 percent, plus one vote — to win the mayor’s chair. That’s a tough standard with five candidates.
“I think, statistically, (a runoff election) is almost a sure thing,” Montejo said. “I think it could be very difficult for any one person to come out on top.”
Candidates Stanley Pelletier, Robert MacDonald, Walter Hill, Mark Paradis and incumbent Ron Jean all have collected enough signatures to be on the ballot.
If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two candidates will square off in a runoff.
That rule was last used in 1997, when candidates Norm Poulin, Kaileigh Tara and Jim Begert split the vote. Begert collected the fewest votes; Poulin and Tara faced off a month later. Tara eventually went on to win the December runoff and claimed the mayor’s job.
None of the other elected city positions have that requirement. Candidates for City Council or School Committee must only garner more votes than other candidates, according to the City Charter.
Three City Council candidates — Ward 1 incumbent John Butler, Ward 5’s Craig Saddlemire and Ward 6 incumbent Mark A. Cayer — have completed their nominations and are guaranteed spots on the Nov. 8 ballot.
No City Council candidate had completed a petition in Wards 2, 3, 4 or 7, although Montejo said at least one person is passing nominations for each seat.
No candidate had completed a nomination for a School Committee seat. Montejo said that only Ward 6 had no candidate looking for nominations.
“So, as long as they all turn in their nominations, we should be OK,” she said. She said she planned to call the candidates early next week and remind them that the deadline is coming.
Lewiston candidates hoping to guarantee a spot on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot must file their nominating petitions and signatures by Sept. 9. The terms for the newly elected begin in January 2012.
According to the City Clerk’s office, the ballot will be printed with no names for some seats if no candidates step forward for the City Council in Ward 6, for the at-large School Committee seats or the school seats in Wards 1 and 6. Those seats could go to write-in candidates.
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