A former Hallowell mayor and state legislator won the Democratic primary for Senate District 21.

David Bustin, of Hallowell, defeated Priscilla Jenkins, of Winthrop, 1,354 to 1,044, according to unofficial results. He will face Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, in November.

“I’m very pleased to have won and my opponent waged a good race,” Bustin said Wednesday. “We’re going to work hard and involve as many people in this race as possible.”

Bustin, 73, is on the State Board of Mediators, served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives in the 1970s and has been both the state’s personnel and labor commissioner.

Jenkins, 68, is a selectwoman in Winthrop and substitute teacher.

Senate District 21 includes Gardiner, Winthrop, Manchester, Monmouth, Randolph, West Gardiner, Farmingdale, Litchfield, Pittston, Chelsea and Hallowell.

Bustin has said he expects more deregulating legislation to be proposed by Republican leadership in the next session, ticking off a list of his concerns such as the weakening of environmental laws and bargaining rights of state workers, and changes in contracts for state retirees.

Jenkins led Bustin in her hometown of Winthrop, by 433 to 181, in Monmouth by 122 to 68 and in Pittston by 53 to 46, while Bustin collected more votes in the other municipalities.

In Farmingdale, 103 people voted for Bustin and 160 for Jenkins; in Gardiner, 268 for Bustin and 160 for Jenkins; in Hallowell, 246 for Bustin and 79 for Jenkins; in Litchfield, 58 for Bustin and 54 for Jenkins; in Randolph, 82 for Bustin and 55 for Jenkins; in Chelsea, 95 for Bustin and 32 for Jenkins; in Manchester, 121 for Bustin and 93 for Jenkins; and in West Gardiner, 86 for Bustin and 48 for Jenkins.


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