AUBURN — Jonathan LaBonte easily claimed his third term as mayor at the polls Tuesday, defeating challenger Peter Letourneau.
LaBonte picked up 2,605 votes to Letourneau’s 1,896, earning 58 percent of the vote.
LaBonte could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Letourneau said Tuesday that he hurt his chances in two ways.
“I think I should have debated Jonathan when I said I would not,” Letourneau said.
Letourneau declined to take part in a Sun Journal-hosted forum with the mayor, citing his personal dislike of LaBonte.
“And I think being honest about why I didn’t want to debate him was the second mistake,” Letourneau said. “I can’t tolerate him very well and I said that and it was printed. But it is what I said.”
But Letourneau said he feels right about challenging LaBonte, especially his relationship working with Maine’s governor.
LaBonte is the director of Gov. Paul LePage’s Office of Policy and Management.
Letourneau said he still feels LaBonte assumes mayoral power that does not exist.
“In Auburn, the mayor is different than the way he treats the job,” Letourneau said. “It troubles me that he continues down that path. And I don’t like the way he treats employees in Auburn, either.”
Letourneau had his supporters at the polls. Roger Anctil of Andrea Lane said he voted against LaBonte because of his day job.
“I have a bad feeling about that,” Anctil said. “I’m trying to get the city away from LePage, and I see LaBonte being in his pocket. There are some trust issues there for me.”
John Wyman said he didn’t have that concern.
“I like John and I like the work he’s done,” he said. “And, there’s the old adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Auburn resident Don Rich agreed.
“He’s there now, and at least we’ve had a little progress over the last three years,” he said.
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