Voters pack East End Community School Tuesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Photographer

There was no clear winner in three elections for the Portland City Council or for a school board seat shortly after polls closed Tuesday night.

Polls closed at 8 p.m., and as of 8:15 p.m., the city had yet to report any results in those races. Jessica Grondin, a city spokeswoman, told reporters and candidates awaiting the numbers Tuesday evening that “it will take some time to get results due to the volume of ballots and the polling places that have still queues.”

Three Portland City Council seats were up for election this year — in Districts 1 and 2 and one at-large seat — after Councilors Roberto Rodriguez, Anna Trevorrow and Victoria Pelletier all chose not to run for reelection. In the lead-up to Election Day, many municipal candidates cited housing and homelessness as top issues.

It was also the first election in Portland in which all candidates running for a council seat had registered under the city’s new clean elections program. And last month, some candidates were surprised when a national political action committee spent $56,000 to support a handful of more moderate candidates.

In District 1, where Trevorrow gave up his seat, Sarah Michniewicz and Todd Morse are vying to represent the East End, Bayside and Casco Bay Islands. Both candidates said housing and transportation were priorities for them, although they offered different ideas on the issue. how to solve these problems.

District 2 – currently represented by Victoria Pelletier – drew lots a crowded race with Atiim Boykin, Nancy English, Catherine Nekoie, Robert O’Brien and Wesley Pelletier all running for the seat. District 2 covers most of the west side of the peninsula, between High Street and County Way, and a small part of Back Cove.

The general race was also crowded with five candidates: Jess Falero, Benjamin Grant, Grayson Lookner, Brandon Mazer and Jacob Viola. The candidates came from diverse backgrounds and had varying levels of experience, but also said homelessness and housing were the city’s top issues.

Although three Portland school board seats were up for election this fall, only a race was run.

A substitute teacher, Maya Lena, and a business owner, John Rousseau, ran for this at-large seat. The political newcomers joined the race after Nyalat Biliew announced she was not seeking re-election.

Boykin and Nekoie were outside Reiche Elementary School that morning greeting voters as they went to the polls.

Around 5 p.m., the line stretched just outside the gym. Nekoie and Falero, who are not competing for a seat but have very different agendas on homelessness and housing issues, stood at the door to shake hands and speak to voters.

“It’s been very exciting. People smile. I love it,” Nekoie said.

“I can’t wait to see how this all plays out, with ranked-choice voting you never know,” Falero said.

This story will be updated.

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