The City Council of Portland, Maine will hopefully never be the same. For a second year in a row voters choose to elect a Green Party candidate to City Council. John Anton, who is Executive Director of NNEHIF, had a very strong showing against two Democratic incumbent candidates, winning 29% of the votes in a four way race.

Ben Mickeljohn, School Board Candidate lost his seat after a very political campaign season, he had to face one bad piece of news after another for the past six months. I hope the new committee members can forget politics and remember school is about education, children and our future. The game of He Said-She Said should be left in the third grade classroom.

And for Anthony Buxton, he is probably scratching his head. It is strongly believed that his signs, Greens Cause Chaos (see Bollard) helped push those undecided voters to cast ballots for John Anton, and even a few for Ben. Just to remind the Aging Dems out there (because I hate to see good folks run a muck) Voters hate negative politics especially in local elections.

The Real Story Is The League - The League of Young Voters had a 100% success rate this year with its endorsed candidates. All endorsed City Councilor, School Board, & Water Board candidates won! 2008 is shaping up to be a big year. Big Business, locals PACs, and The Insiders are all taking notice of the Leagues impressive work. I for one am damn thankful they are in Portland, Maine. The League helps bring a new voice to the political system; it seeks out responsible, motivated, and fair candidates and then endorses the hell out of them. Many Thanks to the Portland League of Young Voters and all their Volunteers!!!