Scarborough residents shared their opinions about Democratic Senate candidates the way the ancient Greeks voted, with pebbles.
The Scarborough Democratic Town Committee hosted a citizen preference vote at Town Hall on Friday. Polls — in the form of red plastic buckets — were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Registered Democrats picked up glassy light blue pebbles and placed them in one of the fourteen plastic red buckets, each one corresponding to a different candidate, with one for write-ins. Unenrolled voters used darker blue pebbles.
More than a dozen candidates, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maine State President Troy Jackson and former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah, are vying for the party’s nomination after Graham Platner ended his campaign earlier this month after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault, an allegation Platner has denied.
A total of 441 pebbles were cast, according to results shared by the committee.
Shah won the preference vote with 231 pebbles, 174 of which were cast by Democrats.
Jackson trailed with 150 pebbles (129 Democrats) and Bellows behind him with 50 pebbles (44 Democrats).
Dan Kleban received seven pebbles (five Democrats), while Elizabeth Cote, David Costello and Jordan Wood received one Democratic pebble each. A half-dozen other candidates did not receive any.
This weekend, Democratic committees in each of Maine’s 16 counties will pick 500 delegates who will attend the statewide Maine Democratic Party convention in Bangor on July 25 to select the replacement for Platner. The 101 state committee members will also attend.
The Scarborough preference vote was not part of the formal nomination process, but the group will share the final tally with the delegates representing the region.
“It’s a way to capture as much local sentiment as possible,” said Cory Fellows, a Scarborough town councilor and volunteer. “It’s a way to show how ordinary residents feel.”
Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.