Winslow residents arrive Tuesday to vote at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8835 at 175 Veteran Drive. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — Voters reelected a pair of incumbents Tuesday to the Town Council and a former town councilor to the School Board.

Lee Trahan and Jeff West were returned to at-large positions on the Town Council, with 2,051 and 2,045 votes, respectively, according to unofficial results.

Former Councilor Benjamin Twitchell lost out, with 1,678 votes, in the three-way race for two seats. 

Trahan, 51, will begin his second term in an at-large position on the council. He is a lifelong Winslow resident and works part time from home for the architectural design firm he owns, which specializes in designs that are compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Trahan’s first involvement in local government was on the School Board in 2016. He also ran for the Town Council in 2017, which included a memorable vote. After losing by three votes to incumbent Councilor Jerry Quirion, Trahan asked for a recount, which ended up with the candidates tied at 173 votes.

Quirion sued the city over the intent behind a single ballot, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ended up ruling in his favor, securing the election win for him.

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Trahan bounced back a year later, securing an at-large seat on the council.

West, 50, grew up in Winslow and works as a maintenance technician for Spectrum Communications. He has served as a firefighter, coached sports teams and served on the Fourth of July committee, before running successfully for the council in 2016. He will now begin his third term.

Voters also elected Steve Russell, formerly a town councilor for 26 years, to an at-large position on the School Board. He defeated Nick Weiss, a 19-year-old student at Thomas College in Waterville.

Russell received 1,852 votes, while Weiss received 1,367.

Russell, 65, is a dairy farmer and has lived and worked at his family farm since 1980.

Back when he “semiretired” in 2020, Russell said he planned to remain involved in town matters after leaving the council.

He said as a School Board member, he plans to support extra programming to help students who might have fallen behind during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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