LEWISTON, Maine — The city will soon hold a run-off election for its five-way mayoral race.
Democrat Ben Chin earned 44 percent of the vote and runner-up incumbent Republican mayor Robert Macdonald earned 38 percent. Neither earned the necessary 50 percent to claim victory, and Ben Chin says he's glad Lewiston voters will cast their ballots again.
"I love the fact that we have a system where whoever wins is going to be able to say they got the majority of voters," he says.
Chin says he's fighting for the city's soul.
"In a time where the rich are getting richer and everybody else is staying the same or is worse off, people are wondering, can we come together to make a society where everybody has what they need?" he says.
Chin says he looks forward to a face-off with Macdonald.
"That means people are searching for something different," Chin says. "And I'm excited that it seems like all the alternatives out there, I'm the one that people want to get behind to have that kind of change."
A major platform of Chin's campaign is to improve city housing. MacDonald's platform has focused on welfare reform.
Macdonald says he'll be more aggressive in his campaign leading up to the run-off election, which is expected Dec. 8.
