From Embden and Skowhegan to Augusta and Gardiner, central Maine voters went to the polls Tuesday to approve school budgets, elect their local officials and decide on local ballot questions.

Many of the area’s elections were contentious in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, but turnout, in the off-year June election, appeared initially to be low.

Here are the major results.

SKOWHEGAN RESULTS

Voters in Skowhegan elected two newcomers to their Board of Selectmen, according to unofficial results.

Ethan Liberty and Kevin Nelson were elected with 645 and 651 votes, respectively. The two ran closely affiliated campaigns, focused on investing in public safety and infrastructure.

Incumbent select board chair Paul York, who said he was running to maintain continuity on the board he has served on for 12 years, finished in a distant fourth place with just 233 votes. Ester Franklin, who came in fourth in a select board runoff in February, finished in third place with 349 votes.

Liberty posted a video on Facebook claiming victory at 9:54 p.m. His post came shortly after Franklin posted that she had come in third place behind Liberty and Nelson.

In the five-way race for three spots on the MSAD 54 board, incumbents Michael Lambke, Sara Smith and Timothy Williams each won another three-year term. Lambke received 565 votes, Smith received 449 votes and Williams received 496 votes.

Challenging candidates Julie Smith and Samantha Delorie finished fourth and fifth, winning 269 and 255 votes respectively.

Tanya Groce also retained her spot on the MSAD 54 board for a one-year term. She ran uncontested and received 705 votes.

SKOWHEGAN-AREA SCHOOL BUDGET

Voters in Skowhegan-based MSAD 54 approved the $51.4 million school budget with 58% of the votes in the district’s six municipalities. 

Cornville voted 23-21, Mercer voted 31-23, Norridgewock voted 66-30, Skowhegan voted 615-409. Smithfield and Canaan voted the budget down by 33-35 and 23-24, respectively.

GARDINER-AREA SCHOOL BUDGET

In a hotly contested referendum on this year’s Maine School Administrative District 11 budget, voters approved $32,852,000 in spending by a 345-252 vote.

Gardiner residents voted 145-44 to approve the budget, Pittston residents voted 69-56 to approve and Randolph residents voted 31-12. West Gardiner was the only town where a majority of voters disapproved of the budget, voting 140-100 against.

The budget was approved by residents in a regional budget meeting last month, after officials cut the original version by $2.3 million to minimize the effect on taxpayers.

The district has been the focus of debate over a proposed school-based health center — essentially a primary care practice that would be located inside Gardiner Area High School to provide health care to students and staff. The plan could be voted on by the school board as soon as Thursday.

AUGUSTA SCHOOL BUDGET

Augusta’s school budget was approved by voters by one of the widest margins of Tuesday’s election — a 466-278 vote, according to unofficial results.

City councilors approved a $3 million increase to the school budget last month, which officials said was largely attributable to escalating special education costs. School officials chose not to fill 16 positions in the district to reduce costs to taxpayers.

Including the new municipal budget, Augusta’s fiscal year 2026 spending levels will increase taxes by about 2.5%.

EMBDEN SCHOOL WITHDRAWAL

Voters in Embden rejected an effort to explore withdrawing from Regional School Unit 74, unofficial tallies showed.

The margin was just 41 votes: 148 residents voted to stay and 107 residents voted to explore withdrawing.

Embden, Anson, New Portland and Solon make up the school district, which has a budget of $12.6 million for the current school year. With a year-round population of 939 and about 80 enrolled students in RSU 74, Embden paid more than $2.1 million from July 2023 to June 2024, and $1.9 million the previous fiscal year, according to town records.

If the withdrawal proposal had been approved, Embden residents would have started the process of exploring withdrawing from district. Had residents opted to follow and complete the complicated withdrawal procedure, students from the town would have been tuitioned to other schools reportedly at a cost of between $12,000 and $14,000 per student, depending on the grade level and school district Embden chose. Other costs would have been added if students with educational needs required a school that accommodated them.

DRESDEN SELECT BOARD

Voters in Dresden elected Keith Allen to their select board in a very tight race over incumbent Donald Gleason, according to unofficial results.

Allen was elected with 164 votes, while Gleason received 156 votes.

Gleason was elected for a three-year term on the board in 2022, and appears to have lost his reelection bid. Allen has lived in Dresden for 45 years and is a retired truck driver and equipment technician.