DIXFIELD — It’s an upset in the River Valley: Republican Lisa Keim, a relative newcomer to politics, won the Maine Senate District 18 seat Tuesday, defeating longtime lawmaker John Patrick.
With all but a few towns in the large district reporting by Wednesday, Keim held the lead 10,348 to 8,161, according to town clerks’ unofficial election results.
She had sizable support within her hometown of Dixfield, which went 864-404 to her.
Patrick, a Democrat, lost in Rumford, his hometown, 1,412 to 1,448.
Keim entered the race late, taking former state Rep. Gary Knight of Livermore Falls’ place in July after he left the race for health reasons. She had previously lost a race for a State House seat in 2012. In a Sun Journal candidate questionnaire, Keim, 44, described herself as a homemaker with three children.
Patrick, 62, and a longtime paper mill employee, had served in the Legislature for 14 years.
“Watching the results come in, it was euphoric,” Tyler Hadyniak, Keim’s campaign manager, said.
He thanked volunteers and voters and gave a lot of the credit to Keim’s hustle: “She was at the dump on the weekends, she was doing doors almost every day. She really got out there and made those real personal connections.”
Patrick could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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