Towns gear up for elections, with rare race in Brooksville not seen in 40 years

Jan. 13, 2026

By staff

Late winter and early spring is generally the time when area towns hold their local elections, usually in conjunction with their town meetings. Local elections–conducted at polling places by secret ballot where voters choose their town leaders–are separate from town meetings, when voters gather in gyms and town halls to vote on budget items.

A run-down of local elections follows.

Brooksville

Brooksville has a rare contested election for select board this year–so rare that it hasn’t happened in more than four decades.

Richard Bakeman, 81, who has served on Brooksville’s select board since 1991, has decided not to run for another term. His retirement opens a seat for a new board member. Two people, Linda Gifford and Shawn Duffy, have submitted the necessary paperwork to run for the office, which has a three-year term.

Linda Gifford, candidate for Brooksville select board. Courtesy photo.

According to Brooksville’s town clerk, Amber Bakeman available town records show that this will be the first contested election for a select board seat since 1984.

Gifford, 73, who was raised in Southern Maine, is a lawyer and a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. She founded and ran a title search company that performed real estate closings throughout Maine.

Shawn Duffy, candidate for Brooksville select board. Courtesy photo.

“I’m good at reading and figuring out complicated documents and ordinances,” she said in an interview with The Rising Tide.

Gifford and her husband live in Cape Rosier in a house they completed in 2009. He ran a wholesale oil and gasoline company.

In a written statement, Gifford says she would work as a member of the select board to “maintain traditional lifestyles” in Brooksville and provide “careful stewardship of the taxpayers’ money.”

Duffy, 63, born and raised in Brooksville, also promises to keep town taxes down if elected to the select board. A graduate of Eastern Maine Community College, with a degree in

welding, Duffy was an Air Force jet mechanic. He went from constructing and repairing oil

trucks to becoming a regional sales manager for Tremcar, a tank trunk manufacturer.

Duffy now works at Seal Cove Boatyard in Cape Rosier. He and his wife, Michelle, also operate

a property maintenance company. Duffy, who helps maintain Brooksville’s snow plow trucks, said he “wants to give back to the town and keep it running smooth.”

The election for town government positions will take place at the Brooksville Town Office on March 2. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Listed below are the other elected positions on the Brooksville 2026 town ballot, the candidates, all unopposed, and the duration of their terms of office:

• School board: two seats, Sam Vaughan and Ann Silver, 3-year term;

• Planning Board: two seats, Philip Wessel and Darcy Snow, 3-year term;

• Budget Committee: two seats, Matt Freedman and John Kimball, 3-year term

• Fire Chief: Matt Dow, one-year term;

• Tax Collector: Yvonne Redman, one-year term;

• Registrar of Voters and Town Clerk: Amber Bakeman, one-year term;

• Treasurer: Freida Peasley, one-year term.

Brooklin

Three positions will be on the ballot in the April 3 Brooklin town election, as well as the question of whether the town should accept ownership of the Brooklin Baptist Church and Bowden Hall.

Select Board member Stacia Nevin’s three-year term is expiring and she has acquired the forms to seek re-election, but has not yet submitted them. The filing deadline is February 17.

Kyle Hardy’s three-year term on the School Board is expiring. He has not yet filed forms to confirm his intent about seeking re-election.

Town Clerk Heather Candage will seek reelection to another three-year term, she said in an interview. Candage is also the town tax collector, but that term will not expire until 2028.

Voters will also be asked to decide whether to accept ownership of the Baptist Church and its adjacent fellowship hall. That question will be on the election ballot April 3, instead of being decided in the open town meeting on April 4.

Due to declining membership, the church’s trustees have offered to donate the church building and Bowden Hall along with $100,000 for upkeep.

Voting will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on April 3 at the Brooklin Town Hall. The town meeting will be held the following day starting at 9 a.m. at the Brooklin School.

Sedgwick

Sedgwick’s ballot this year includes one open seat and uncontested seat on the select board and one contested race for school board. Both seats are three-year positions. 

Susan Ford, an incumbent, is running unopposed for her second term for the selectboard.

Alan Cole, a current school board member, has served a three-year term and will not seek reelection. Laura Davis and Tiffany MacDonald are running for the seat to replace Cole.

As for the town meeting itself, Lyndsey Dow, Sedgwick’s Tax Collector and Town Clerk, reports the warrant articles are in the process of being written and are up for discussion with the selectboard. 

“We have saved quite a bit of money this year on things like general assistance, mileage and salaries. There isn't anything super contentious on the warrant this year.” Dow said

Sedgwick will hold its elections on March 6 at the Sedgwick Town House located on the North Sedgwick Road from 1-6 p.m. Open town meeting will be held the following day, on March 7 at 9 a.m. at the Sedgwick Town Hall.

Penobscot

Penobscot has a contested election for select board. Vivian Turner Welts, who has served on the town’s finance committee, and Scott Ferden, a former fire chief for the town, will face off for one seat on the board with a three-year term.

On the school board, incumbents Tanya Astbury and Charles Brenton are each running unopposed for two seats, each with three-year terms.

William Hutchins is running for road commissioner for a two-year term.

Rita Martynowski, currently a deputy tax collector in the town office, is running unopposed for town clerk, a position with a term of two years. The position is up for election following the announcement that long-time town clerk Sally Bridges is retiring.

Krisy Emerton is running for one open seat on the finance committee, which has a term of three years.

No one is running for open seats on the town’s charter commission.

Stonington

There are no contested races in Stonington, Select board members Donna Brewer and John Robbins, both incumbents, are running unopposed for two seats, each with a three-year-term.

The Stonington election is March 2, Polls are open from 8 am to 12 pm.

Deer Isle

There are no contested races in Deer Isle. Incumbents seeking re-election include. For select board, Ronald B. Eaton is running unopposed for re-election to a three-year term. Judy Dunham is running for re-election to a one-year term as the town’s treasurer and tax collector. Heather Cormier, Deer Isle’s town clerk, is running unopposed for a one-year-term.

The election will be held on March 2. Polls will be open from 7:30 am to 12 pm.

Community School District 13

CSD 13, the school district that covers both Deer Isle and Stonington, has one seat up for election, with incumbent Chelsea Torrey as the only candidate for the three-year term.

Blue Hill

Blue Hill will hold elections for one seat on the select board, two seats on the planning board, and three seats on the school board. Nomination papers for Blue Hill elected positions are due by Feb. 2 and no candidates have yet filed paperwork, according to town clerk Dana Goettler. The town’s election will be held April 3, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Blue Hill’s open town meeting will be held on April 4.

Castine

No spring elections. 

Orland

No elections until June.