CAPE ELIZABETH — First-term incumbent state Sen. Rebecca Millett was re-elected Nov. 4 in Senate District 29.
Millett received 9,897 votes in the former District 7, which includes all of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, and coastal Scarborough.
Republican William De Sena received 6,524 votes and Green Independent Mark Diehl received 2,069 votes.
Millett has lived in Cape Elizabeth for 15 years. Prior to her election to the Senate she served on the School Board for six years. She also co-founded Citizen Advocates for Public Education, a group to advance local education.
Millett said she’s very happy to have been re-elected.
“It fills my heart up because I just love representing Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and the part of Scarborough in the district,” she said. “I’ve knocked on over 4,000 doors and have met so many great people.”
Millett said there are a few issues she wants to focus on in her second term. She said there’s a lot of work to be done with education and the achievement gap between high- and low-income families.
She said she also wants to help “generate new economic activity,” support small businesses and entrepreneurs, and promote alternative energy sources.
De Sena said that while he wasn’t elected, he enjoyed running.
“I’m glad I did it,” he said. “I’d do it all over again.”
De Sena said the experience of campaigning taught him a lot about the issues in his district.
“I enjoyed listening to different people and hearing their different grievances with government,” he said. “It was enriching.”
Diehl said that although he didn’t win, he believes he has changed the way some people look at politics and the government.
“Eleven percent of the district realized that the two-party system is an illusion,” he said in an email. “People don’t unlearn something like that; it’s a permanent change in the way we understand politics. Every election, more of us will wake up and realize we’ve been manipulated. This one was a great start.”
Kate Gardner can be reached at 781-3361 ext. 125 or kgardner@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter: @katevgardner.
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