Bath voters blocked a proposed housing development at The Bath Golf Club by backing a change to the town’s zoning rules that removes housing development as an allowed use in the golf district zone.
Voters approved the change by a 1,233-563 vote, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election.
Bath saw a low voter turnout, with around 1,748 voters, or 22%, out of the 7,868 registered voters casting ballots.
The proposed $43.8 million Regional School Unit 1 budget easily passed in a 1,499-294 vote.
In other races, Bath residents narrowly backed Republican Andrew Piantidosi, who earned 179 votes but lost out to Republican Ronald Russell, who will go on to challenge U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in November’s election.
Democratic primary headed for recount
In the state Senate District 24 Democratic primary race, Denise Tepler narrowly edged out Jean Guzzetti, 1,817 votes to 1,795, according to unofficial election results.
A recount is expected, but Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office had yet to receive a request Wednesday night.
With the margins being razor thin, Guzzetti’s campaign manager, Andrew Francis, put out a press release around 2 p.m. signaling they would request a recount. The press release stated that Guzzetti had complete confidence in the election process and asked for a recount out of due diligence.
“We think it’s important that every vote is counted,” Tepler said in a phone call with The Times Record.
Tepler said she was not surprised that Guzzetti requested a recount, given the tight margin. The ballots will go to Augusta for a recount by the secretary of state’s office, with two representatives and attorneys representing the Guzzetti and Tepler campaigns present.
Guzzetti thanked her volunteers for their time, and regardless of the outcome, Senate District 24 will be well represented on the Democratic front once the recount is complete.
According to Bellows’ staff, if a recount request is received, the ballots will be delivered by law enforcement to 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta. The candidates are not the ballot counters, and the recounts are open for members of the public to attend, with the event likely to be livestreamed on Facebook.
The last Maine recount occurred in 2022 in the Republican primary for the Maine House District 73 seat between Michael Soboleski and Nancy J. Bessey, with Soboleski winning after a final recount tabulation.
An earlier version of this story misstated the party of Andrew Piantidosi. He ran as a Republican.
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