LEWISTON — It was just five minutes before the deadline Friday afternoon when it was confirmed that the race for the City Council seat in Ward 3 will be between newcomers to city politics.

With minutes to spare, sitting Ward 3 City Councilor Larry Poulin brought in a nominating petition for Brian Woodsome of 117 Oak St. with nine signatures.

That was enough to push Woodsome over the top and guarantee him a spot on the Nov. 8 ballot. He’ll face Nathan Libby of 12 Orange St. Libby had handed in his petitions guaranteeing his spot just hours earlier.

Both seek to replace Poulin, who announced Tuesday he wouldn’t seek another term.

“I’d been considering a run for a while,” Libby said. “I do follow local politics, so when nobody stepped forward I thought I should.”

Libby began circulating his petitions on Wednesday. Woodsome took out his petitions Thursday, according to Finance Committee Chairman Mike Marcotte. Marcotte said he helped recruit Woodsome.

The pair were not the only candidates to settle their nominations Friday. Ward 4’s Doreen Christ, a former employee in the city’s Planning Department, turned in her paperwork just after 4 p.m., less then 30 minutes before the 4:30 p.m. Friday. She’s unopposed on the ballot to fill the spot being vacated by Ron Jean.

“It’s like this, sometimes,” City Clerk Kathy Montejo said. “People do wait to decide if they want to run, so there tends to be a last-minute rush. We’re just glad we have names for all of the council seats.”

With only two incumbent councilors on the ballot, the council will look different after the election. Ward 1 Councilor John Butler is unopposed in his ward and only faces a challenge if a write-in candidate steps forward.Ward 6 Councilor Mark Cayer faces two challengers: Roger Roy of 72 Old Lisbon Road and Stephen Miller of 12 Lucille Ave.

Ward 2’s council seat will go to a newcomer. Donald D’Auteil of 400 Montello St. will face Doug Foss of 628 College St.

Newcomer candidates in Wards 5 and 7 are unopposed as well. Craig Saddlemire, of 75 Maple St. is unopposed in the Ward 5 race and Richard Desjardins of 55 Baird Ave. is unopposed in the race for Ward 7.

The biggest race will be the one to succeed Larry Gilbert as mayor. Five candidates have collected enough signatures to get a spot on the ballot. They are: Stanley Pelletier of 28 Surry Lane, Robert MacDonald of 6 Jolin St., Walter Hill of 10 Loubier St., Mark Paradis of 82 Prospect Ave. and City Councilor Ron Jean of 27 Cram Ave. If none of them get a majority of votes, the top two square off in a runoff just weeks later.

The ballot to fill the city’s School Committee will have two open spaces, in Ward 6 and the at-large seat. No candidates submitted petitions to win a spot for those, so Montejo said both will be write-in races.

In Ward 1, School Committee candidates Bette Thibeault of 16 Abbott St. and Linda Scott of 45 Pettingill St. will face each other. None of the other School Committee candidates have competition.

Paul St. Pierre of 12 Ventura St. is the only name on ballot for Ward 2, Eugene Dumont of 23 Orange St. is the only name for Ward 3, Jim Handy of 9 Maplewood Road is the only candidate for Ward 4 and Sonja Taylor is the only candidate for Ward 5. Tom Shannon is the only candidate for Ward 7’s School Committee seat.

Candidates had until 4:30 p.m. Friday to file their nominating petitions and signatures. Mayoral candidates needed to gather between 100 and 200 signatures. Candidates for Lewiston City Council or School Committee seats needed at least 50 signatures. 

The terms for the newly elected begin in January 2012.

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