# 2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election

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Question 5 :
City of Portland
Mayoral elections
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2023 :
vte :
The 2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the mayor of Portland, Maine.
Since 1923, municipal elections in Portland have not included formal partisan nominations. In September 2022, Mayor Kate Snyder announced that she would not seek re-election to a second term in office. Mark Dion was elected mayor after five rounds of voting.

## Background

Since 2011, all mayoral elections in Portland have used instant-runoff voting, a form of ranked-choice voting.
Nomination papers for the mayor, city council, and school board were available on June 30 and had to be returned between August 14 and August 28.

## Candidates
### Official

* Pious Ali, at-large city councilor
* Justin Costa, former city councilor
* Mark Dion, city councilor, former state senator, former Cumberland County Sheriff, and candidate for governor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Democratic)
* Dylan Pugh, software developer (Party affiliation: Democratic)
* Andrew Zarro, city councilor, District 4 (Party affiliation: Democratic)

### Declined

* Emily Figdor, member and former chair of the Portland Board of Education
* Michael Kebede, former chair of the Portland Charter Commission
* Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic)
* Ethan Strimling, former mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic)

#### Endorsements
##### Local officials

* Ethan Strimling, former mayor (2015–2019)

##### Local officials

* Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (first choice)

##### Local officials

* Kate Snyder, incumbent mayor (2019–present) (second choice)

## Campaign

The major issues in the mayoral campaign included the ongoing housing crisis and homelessness crisis in the city. The 2023 point-in-time count noted 4,258 unhoused individuals, 25% of which were considered chronically homeless.
Another issue discussed on the campaign trail was a rise in hate speech. Ali faced threats and harassment from the New England White Network, City Council meetings faced zoom bombing, and anti-semitic flyers were placed around the community on September 11.

## Results

2023 Portland, Maine mayoral election :
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 4 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 5 |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % |
| Mark Dion | 8,839 | 39.43% | + 10 | 8,849 | 39.50% | + 60 | 8,909 | 39.88% | + 516 | 9,425 | 42.56% | + 1,325 | 10,750 | 51.55% |
| Andrew Zarro | 5,902 | 26.33% | + 26 | 5,928 | 26.46% | + 363 | 6,291 | 28.16% | + 636 | 6,927 | 31.28% | + 3,180 | 10,107 | 48.45% |
| Pious Ali | 4,894 | 21.83% | + 23 | 4,917 | 21.95% | + 362 | 5,279 | 23.63% | + 515 | 5,794 | 26.16% | - 5,794 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Justin Costa | 1,771 | 7.90% | + 4 | 1,775 | 7.92% | + 86 | 1,861 | 8.33% | - 1,861 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Dylan Pugh | 908 | 4.05% | + 26 | 934 | 4.17% | - 934 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| George Rheault (Write-in) | 100 | 0.45% | - 100 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 22,414 | 100.0% |