Lewiston mayoral race goes to runoff after no majority vote

Lewiston will hold a special election in December to choose its next mayor after Tuesday's five-way race ended without a clear winner. Neither of the top two candidates secured the majority required to avoid a runoff.

Unofficial results show Rick LaChapelle received 45.7% of the vote, leading incumbent Mayor Carl Sheline, who captured 35.3%. Political newcomer Brian Beaulieu finished third with 10.6% of the vote. Businessman Jay Rodrigue earned 4.5%, and perennial candidate Charles Soule received 3.9%.

City rules mandate a December runoff when no candidate receives more than half of the total votes. Sheline, a Democrat running for a third two-year term, previously won office after a runoff three years ago against former state Rep. Jon Connor. LaChapelle served as City Council President before losing his seat in 2023, an election disrupted by a mass shooting that killed 18 people in the city.

The candidates focused their campaigns on public safety, property taxes, and economic growth. LaChapelle proposed freezing property taxes at current levels and criticized Sheline for his leadership on youth gun violence. Sheline cited progress in code enforcement, a new homeless shelter, police recruitment, and business growth as evidence of his administration's success.

The police department currently has more than a dozen vacant positions, according to local reporting. In the final days of the campaign, federal prosecutors reviewed early-voting footage from City Hall. This followed an accusation by a conservative news outlet that interpreters coached Somali-American voters. The Justice Department sent election monitors to polling places in Lewiston on Tuesday.