A Madison Highway Department truck is parked Aug. 26 outside the department’s garages. On Thursday, residents voted to recall the road commissioner and replace him with somebody who previously held the position. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

MADISON — Efforts to recall Madison’s road commissioner proved successful Thursday, as residents overwhelmingly voted to oust Michael Gordon from his post and chose a former road commissioner to replace him.

Michael Gordon Contributed photo

By a vote of 267 to 48, Gordon was recalled from the office of road commissioner, according to certified results from the town clerk’s office. Gordon’s removal was effective immediately.

Jeffrey Wright, a longtime Highway Department employee who served as road commissioner for two years before resigning in 2022, was elected to the position. Wright will serve the remainder of Gordon’s three-year term that expires June 2026.

Wright beat out opponent Leon “Hoss” Dorr II by a vote of 183 to 97, according to official results.

Gordon, who was elected in June 2023 after being appointed to fill a vacancy the month prior, said he believes the reasons behind the recall were unfounded.

“It was discrimination in my eyes,” Gordon, 47, said via phone Friday morning. “Total b— (expletive removed). There was no reason for it. There was no reason for any of it. That’s just plain and simple.”

Wright did not answer a phone call Friday morning.

The two-part recall election ballot was crafted following guidance from the Maine Municipal Association, Town Clerk Cheyenne Stevens said previously.

The first question asked voters if they wished to recall Gordon. The ballot then instructed voters who voted “yes” on the recall to then vote for Wright, Dorr or a write-in candidate; however, voters who voted “no” on the recall were still allowed to pick a candidate in the second question.

The town was required to hold the recall election after a group of five registered voters in Madison organized a petition to recall Gordon this spring.

They obtained sufficient signatures, as required by the town’s ordinance, which was 10% of the number of voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election. In this case, that was 195, Stevens said at a Board of Selectmen meeting earlier this year.

A brief statement in their affidavit specifies their reasons for the recall petition.

“The Petitioners Committee strongly believes that Mr. Michael Gordon as road commissioner has displayed a lack of ability in the areas of planning, budgeting, personnel management, safety, and general understanding of how to oversee the highway department,” the affidavit reads.

In an interview before the recall election, Gordon said his first winter running the Highway Department was challenging but pointed to examples of his accomplishments in each of the areas specified in the petition.

Gordon, who grew up in Madison and now lives in Solon, said the petitioners had no proof of their claims.

Wright, the newly elected road commissioner, said before the recall election that under Gordon’s supervision this winter, roads were not cleared in a timely fashion. He declined to comment then on his other concerns with the Highway Department, saying he prefers to stay “low-key.”

In an interview before the election, Wright said that the Highway Department has lacked leadership and accountability since he left his employment with the town.

Wright, 62, of Madison, was the town’s road commissioner for two years before he resigned in late 2022. Before that, he worked for the Highway Department for 27 years.

Wright was working at Madison manufacturer TimberHP before the recall election.

The road commissioner is responsible for leading a highway department that maintains 50 miles of local roads, according to the town’s website. The department has a crew of five full-time employees and, typically, three seasonal employees, according to Town Manager Denise Ducharme.

The position has an annual salary of $72,675, Ducharme said.

Thursday’s election marks the second time in the past two years that an elected official has been recalled in Madison. Former Selectman Glen Mantor was recalled in March 2023.