11/08/2024
Congratulations to Sam!
Paradis concedes defeat in Hancock County commissioner race
By Zach Lanning Nov 7, 2024 Updated 4 hrs ago
POLITICS
Paradis concedes defeat in Hancock County Commissioner race
Incumbent Paul Paradis (left) narrowly lost to Samuel DiBella in a race to fill the District 3 Hancock County Commissioners seat.
ISLANDER FILE PHOTO
ELLSWORTH — The District 3 Hancock County commissioner seat will be filled by Democrat Samuel DiBella after the incumbent, Republican Paul Paradis, conceded defeat in the tightly contested race.
The results have yet to be certified by the state, but according to results from individual towns, Paradis lost by a total of 69 votes, receiving 5,862 total votes to DiBella’s 5,931.
Maine state law requires the losing candidate to file a request for a recount within five days of the election. Even though the margin of victory for DiBella was less than one percent, Paradis told the Mount Desert Islander that he accepts the final tally and will not be challenging the outcome.
“I ran and those are the results,” said Paradis, who won his seat four years ago running as a write-in candidate. “I’ve been asked if I’m going to demand a recount, and I won’t ... I don’t think it would be right to place that financial burden on the towns.”
It appeared early on that Paradis could be returning for another term as he led by 5,367 votes to DiBella’s 5,339 as of the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6. That tally did not yet include Southwest Harbor votes, however.
Southwest Harbor has since posted election results on its website, with DiBella receiving 592 votes to Paradis’ 495. The difference was enough to earn DiBella, a select board member from Hancock, a seat on the Board of Commissioners representing District 3.
“It was a bit of a shock to me as a newbie in the space,” DiBella said when reached for comment Nov. 7. “It’s a little bit more intense at the county level. When you’re on the select board, there are five members, but the county board only has three members, and you really have to know your stuff ... So, it’s going to be a challenge, but I am ready to get to work.”
Paradis had a similar view to DiBella when asked to look back on his four-year term.
“There is a huge learning curve at the county level, and it’s actually much greater than it is at the municipal level, I learned,” Paradis explained. “I still don’t feel I have my head fully wrapped around how things work at the county level ... I enjoyed it, though, and I enjoyed learning. But it is what it is."
DiBella said that the most pressing issue he is looking to tackle is the budget, something he has prior experience working on as a member of the county’s budget advisory board.
“There’s a problem money-wise, and that money problem is not easily solved,” DiBella explained. “We don’t want to raise taxes .... we know that there are people on fixed incomes and that that can be a problem for them. But it boils down to money that is not well spent. We need to invest in roads, schools, all the things that people need to get to work and do a good job. You expand your economy any way you can and hope you can grow out of the debt.”
In an interesting twist, neither candidate carried the vote in their hometown on election night. Paradis, a longtime Bar Harbor resident, who served for many years on the Town Council and whose family has owned and operated a hardware store for generations, lost to DiBella 1,546 to 1,923 in Bar Harbor. In Hancock, DiBella received 641 votes to Paradis’ 778.
“I think this is probably an election where people voted down party lines,” said Paradis, chalking the results up to the partisan atmosphere at the national level. The election numbers do support his theory, with Vice President Kamala Harris winning in Bar Harbor and president-elect Donald Trump winning in Hancock
