Orono voters select Maine legislators

ORONO, Maine — Orono voters chose their district state Legislature representatives and District 5 state Senator on Tuesday.

Democratic candidate Laurie Osher won her bid for the Legislature in District 123, beating her Republican opponent Cameron Bowie. Osher received 2,958 votes and Bowie garnered 1,147 of the 5,268 ballots that were cast.

Osher — a Pennsylvania native — moved to Orono in 1991.

She previously worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service. Osher also worked for the United States Department of Agriculture in Alaska, Colorado and California, according to her personal biography.

She has a PhD in soils and global change from University of California at Berkeley. Osher
currently serves on the Orono Town Council.

Voters also selected Democrat James Dill of Old Town as the District 5 state Senator. He received 3,800 votes. Howland candidate Christian Ireland, a Republican, trailed Dill with 1,208 votes.

Dill is the current chairperson of the RSU 34 School Board, which he’s served for the past 18 years, according to his Senate profile. He also served as chairperson of the board for the United Technologies Center in Bangor.

Dill is a graduate of the University of Maine and has a PhD in entomology from Purdue University. He is a member of the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis and lives in Old Town.

Joseph Perry Sr., a Democrat from Bangor, received 553 votes for Maine House District 124. He ran against Republican Daniel LaPointe of Orono — who received 318 votes.