Belfast voters overwhelmingly chose a new face for their mayor on Tuesday.
Challenger Adam Blodgett won election to the mostly ceremonial role with around 70 percent of the votes, garnering 1,942 to Mayor Eric Sanders’ 824.
In Belfast, the mayor moderates City Council meetings and only votes if a tiebreaker is needed, but the role also serves as a public face for city government.
Sanders, who previously spent five years on the area’s school board and 10 on the city council, was elected mayor for a two-year term in 2019 and has held the role since. He recently retired from a 26-year career at what’s now Bank of America and, when first running for mayor, said he wanted to bring civil, calm leadership after past turbulence.
Blodgett, who runs a call center for a pet insurance company and runs a small home business caring for local dogs, was a first-time candidate for public office. He told the Bangor Daily News in September that he was interested in increasing affordable housing, job opportunities and opportunities for members of the public to feel they have a voice.
Two two-year seats were also open on the city council this year with candidates running unopposed. Daniel Miller won in Ward 3 to replace Brenda Bonneville, who didn’t seek reelection. In Ward 4, incumbent Chris Bitely was elected for another two years.
