“Janet Mills for Maine”

Erin Cropper
Contributing Writer

Photo submitted by Erin Cropper

As of Nov. 8, Democratic candidate Janet Mills has been reelected for governor. Mills made history being the first female governor elected, thus further creating history as the first female governor to be reelected. Mills defeated candidates Rep.Paul Lepage and Ind.Sam Hunkler getting 56% of votes.

Gov. Mills celebrated her win that same day in Portland, posting to social media: “Tonight, Maine people sent a clear message. We will continue to move forward, and won’t go back. We will continue to fight problems, and not one another. Thank you Maine, I love you!”

In the last four years of her time in office, Gov. Mills led the state through the Coronavirus Pandemic and made many progressive moves for the state, such as fully funding Maine schools, tackling property tax increases, expanding health care, and much more.

Students were anonymously asked how they felt about the results of the election:

“As a senior who will be teaching next year, I’m thrilled that there’s someone who cares about education reform as our governor,” an anonymous UMF student said.

“It’s a problem we have nationwide, so having a governor that only raises wages to be more competitive, but works better resources available statewide makes me feel good about where education is headed for my first couple years,” another said.

Yet another said that “it’s good to have a woman’s touch in politics, and especially good to have someone who actually seems to care about the people.”

While most students were pleased with the results of the election, there were few who wished to see Gov. Mills leave office, one student saying “I think Maine should’ve moved on from her. She is currently killing our wallets everytime we pay for gas or heating oil. Her administration is all over the place as well.”

Although the specific election results for the town of Farmington have not been released, it has been reported that Farmington was one of nine towns in Franklin county where Mills carried the majority; alongside Sandy River Plantation, Weld, Industry, Kingfield, Temple, Carrabassett Valley, Coplin Plantation, and Wilton. In its entirety, Franklin County had a total of 7,484 votes for Mills, 7,267 votes for Lepage, and 348 votes for Hunkler.