Republican incumbent Lois Snowe-Mello lost her Senate District 15 seat to former legislator John Cleveland, 10,309-8,961.
Cleveland, 62, of Auburn, a small business owner and former Auburn mayor, campaigned on his experience in bringing people together to solve problems and on a promise to “remove real and perceived barriers toward being friendly to business development,” and to show interested businesses how others have succeeded in Maine. Cleveland supports development of alternative energy and said the “most effective way to lift people from poverty is education, training and opportunity with the support and help of parents and others.”
Snowe-Mello, who has served 14 years in the Legislature, believes that under the current administration Maine has “the opportunity to continue on the path toward opportunity, self-reliance and prosperity,” and any shift would put Maine back on the path to “wasteful spending, higher taxes and dependence on government.” She supports lower energy costs, greater welfare reform and continued regulatory reform.
Snowe-Mello is a Clean Elections candidate; Cleveland did not use Clean Election funds.
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