Political newcomer Allen wins at-large seat on Augusta City Council

AUGUSTA — Courtney Allen handily defeated Harold Elliott Jr. for an at-large spot on the Augusta City Council.

Courtney Allen

According to unofficial results, Allen got 5,423 votes to Elliott’s 2,942. She scored more votes in all four of the city’s voting wards, 348 to 205 in Ward 1, 348 to 226 in Ward 2, 413 to 401 in Ward 3, and 461 to 324 in Ward 4. She also received more votes in the city’s central polling, which includes the many absentee ballots filed ahead of the election this year, by a vote of 3,853 to 1,786.

On Wednesday morning, the 27-year-old Allen said she is “deeply grateful Augusta chose me as its next city councilor; I’m ready to get to work. Many residents want to put the election behind us and focus on healing and coming together as a community.”

Allen is policy director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, a graduate student at the Muskie School of Public Service, and on the Health Equity Alliance Board of Directors and Young People in Recovery.

Allen said the opioid crisis is an issue she is equipped to help tackle in Augusta. She said she would work to help Augusta become a recovery-ready community, one built on eight pillars of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, judicial and law enforcement, housing, education, employment, and recovery support services.

Allen said she was gratified to see that At-Large Councilor Raegan LaRochelle recently raised the idea of forming a group in Augusta to focus on the opioid addiction problem, an issue she made a focus of her campaign for council. Allen said she looks forward to discussing with councilors helping address the opioid crisis as a council goal.

Elliott served as a city councilor for Ward 3 from 2017 until 2019 when he resigned from the council because he planned to move out of the city upon his retirement. Elliott said he and his wife did indeed move out of Augusta, to Florida, but they didn’t like it there so they returned.

He said he ran again because he enjoyed his first stint, wants to return to being involved in setting the city budget, and to continue getting absentee landlords to take care of their rental properties in Augusta.

All other local races in Augusta were uncontested.

Winning those races, according to unofficial results, were: Ward 1 City Council, incumbent Linda Conti with 1,874 votes; Ward 4 City Council, incumbent Eric Lind, with 2,330 votes; Board of Education Chairperson, Amanda Olson, with 7,937 votes; Board of Education At-Large, Kimberly Martin, with 7,861 votes; and Board of Education Ward 2, Martha Witham, with 1,922 votes.