Political parties had until Nov. 29 to nominate candidates to run in the special election for District 27 of the Maine House of Representatives. The unaffiliated candidate filing deadline also passed on the same day. James Boyle (D) and Timothy Thorsen (R) were both nominated by their respective political parties to run in the Jan. 11 special election. Suzanne Phillips also filed to run as an unenrolled candidate. The filing deadline for write-in candidates is Dec. 6.
Boyle previously served in the Maine state Senate from 2012 to 2014. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 2014. Thorsen is a retired Marine Corps colonel and works as a project management professional for a manufacturing and construction company in Sanford, Maine. Phillips currently serves as a Gorham Town Council member.
The winner of the special election will serve until December 2022. The seat became vacant after Kyle Bailey (D) resigned on Oct. 15 to pursue another job opportunity. He was elected to the state House in 2020 with 59% of the vote.
Democrats currently have an 80-65 majority in the Maine House with five third-party members and one vacancy. Maine has a Democratic state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
As of November, 10 state legislative special elections have been scheduled to take place in 2022. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Maine held 15 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.
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