SCARBOROUGH — Incumbent state senators prevailed in Districts 29 and 30 on Tuesday.

Sen. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough, won a decisive second term in Senate District 30 over first-time legislative candidate and Scarborough Town Councilor Jean-Marie Caterina.

In the Senate District 29 race, two-term incumbent Sen. Rebecca Millett, D-Cape Elizabeth, was re-elected over Town Council Chairwoman Martha “Molly” MacAuslan, an independent.

Volk beat Caterina 14,590 to 9,889 in a district that includes most of Scarborough, all of Gorham and part of Buxton.

Millett beat MacAuslan 13,568 to 8,152 in a district that includes Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and part of Scarborough.

Volk, who was first elected to the House in 2010 and the Senate two years ago, said Wednesday morning “it feels great – I’m really honored (for) such a decisive endorsement for my second term.”

“I’m glad that people are showing that much confidence in me,” said Volk, who added that it feels good to know, with such a clear-cut victory, that people sincerely feel she represents their interests in Augusta.

Volk has co-chaired the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee, and she has also served on the Judiciary Committee, the State Workforce Board and the Citizens Trade Policy Commission.

Now that she has been re-elected, she will co-chair the Legislative Caucus on Aging.

Caterina, a first-term councilor who will be replaced by Katy Foley later this year, said while she’s disappointed, she offered “congratulations to my opponent” and praised her for running a positive campaign.

While “it’s too early for me to say” whether she will run for the state Senate or council again, “I’m not going very far,” Caterina said. “I want to stay involved with the town for sure.”

Senate District 29

“It feels really great,” Millett said Wednesday afternoon of her re-election.

“It was nice to have such a strong results and know that more than a majority of the residents appreciate the work that I’m doing and want to send me back,” Millett said. “It’s a real honor.”

Millett said she was pleased and “very grateful” with the tenor of both her and MacAuslan’s campaigns, lauding them for “staying true” to the issues in their communities.

Millett has openly supported an increase in the minimum wage; she has urged the Legislature to resourcefully find solutions to the state’s opioid crisis without exclusively relying on law enforcement; and she supports a school funding threshold of 55 percent.

Millett has lived in Cape Elizabeth for nearly 20 years, and spent six of those on the Board of Education.

MacAuslan will finish her first three-year term on the Cape Elizabeth Town Council at the end of the year.

MacAuslan wrote in an email Wednesday afternoon that she has “enjoyed meeting so many voters in the district over the last several months and hearing about their concerns and their hopes for the Legislature – mostly centered (on) more agreement and consensus, more cooperation within the Legislature and with the governor.”

And while, “I’m disappointed not to have a role in making that happen, as a constituent, myself, I hope to see more of it, too,” MacAuslan said.

Alex Acquisto can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or aacquisto@theforecaster.net. Follow Alex on Twitter: @AcquistoA.

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