CARIBOU, Maine — Next year’s Caribou City Council will include a new member and a longtime councilor thanks to Tuesday’s election.
Current Caribou Planning Board Chairperson Dan Bagley won his first three-year term on the council while incumbent Joan Theirault retained her seat. Theriault, who will serve another three-year term, gained 1,704 votes, 38.2 percent of the total votes cast, while Bagley walked away with 1,469 votes, 32.9 percent of the final count.
Candidate Paul Watson came in third with 1,280 votes, 28.7 percent of the votes.
In the race for State House District 4, which covers Caribou, Wade and Washburn, local voters overwhelmingly went for Timothy Guerrette, a Republican, who garnered 1,892 votes, 63 percent of the total vote. His opponent Jordyn Rossignol, a Democrat, received 1,107 votes, 36.9 percent.
Caribou voters also helped Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, retain his seat in State Senate District 1 in his race against Sue Bernard, R-Caribou. Jackson received 1,684 votes, 52.6 percent, while Bernard received 1,515, or 47.3 percent.
In a close race for U.S. House District 2, local voters favored Bruce Poliquin over his competitor Jared Golden. Poliquin gained 1,549 votes, 48.9 percent, while Golden received 1,452, or 45.8 percent. Independent candidate Tiffany Bond received 167 votes, or 5 percent.
In the governor’s race between incumbent Gov. Janet Mills and former Gov. Paul LePage, Caribou voters favored LePage, who gained 1,735 votes, 54.1 percent of the local vote. Mills received 1,418, or 44.2 percent of the local vote. Independent candidate Sam Hunkler got 52 votes, 1 percent of the local vote.
Voters also cast ballots for many uncontested local races.
RSU 39 School Board Chairperson Tanya Sleeper will serve another three-year term. Sleeper received 2,627 votes. Athill Hebert won a three-year term on the Jefferson Cary Hospital Fund, gaining 2,646 votes.
Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen earned 2,575 Caribou votes while current District Attorney Todd Collins garnered 2,437 votes.
In county government, Republicans Melissa Richardson and Darleen Guy will continue their tenures as Aroostook’s register of deeds and register of probate, respectively. Richardson gained 2,508 votes while Guy received 2,682 votes. Independent Richard Fortier earned a seat on Aroostook’s finance committee with 2,531 votes.
A total of 3,064 ballots were cast from Caribou voters, which represents 54 percent of registered voters, according to City Clerk Danielle Brissette.
