UPDATE: Rep. McDonald has decided to not run for the open seat in the special election and will not run for re-election for her seat in the House of Representatives. 

AUGUSTA — State Representative Genevieve McDonald has announced her intentions to seek a suddenly open seat in the State Senate in a forthcoming special election.

Rep. McDonald, a Democrat from Stonington, currently represents House District 134 serving the communities of Cranberry Isles, Deer Isle, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, North Haven, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Swan's Island, Tremont, Vinalhaven and Marshall Island Township.

Senator Louis Luchini, who serves District 7, announced his immediate resignation last week from the Legislature to accept a new role as Region 1 Advocate within the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. 

Senate District 7 serves the communities of Hancock County, and in the new legislative term will also serve the Knox County community of Isle au Haut. 

Rep. McDonald is in her second term in the Maine House. She serves on the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources and as the House chair of the Government Oversight Committee.

McDonald, a graduate of the University of Maine, is a commercial fisherman in Stonington. She is the Downeast Region Representative on the Maine Lobster Advisory Council, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the William S. Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service.

Governor Janet Mills and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows signed the proclamation Jan. 26 announcing a special election for the seat will be held Tuesday, June 14.

Maine law requires special elections to fill vacancies in the State Senate, and since this is an election to fill a seat in the 2021-2022 legislature, the districts in effect from 2013-2022 are still being used.

The current Senate District 7 is made up of most of Hancock County (Amherst, Aurora, Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Central Hancock Unorganized Territory, Cranberry Isles, Deer Isle, Eastbrook, Ellsworth, Franklin, Frenchboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Mariaville, Marshall Island Township, Mount Desert, Osborn, Otis, Sedgwick, Sorrento, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Surry, Swan's Island, Tremont, Trenton, Waltham, and part of East Hancock Unorganized Territory).

Also on June 14, the 2022 primary elections will be held, using the new districts signed into law in September.

Maines political parties will now caucus to choose candidates for the seat. Candidate nominations are due to the Office of the Secretary of State by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 16.

Non-party candidates must circulate petitions and obtain the signatures of at least 200, but not more than 300, registered voters in Senate District 7. The deadline to submit the petitions to the Secretary of State is by 5 p.m. on Feb. 16 after first having the signatures certified by the appropriate town offices. Write-in candidates must declare their candidacy by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23. Non-party petition forms and write-in candidate declaration forms may be obtained by contacting the Elections Division of the Secretary of State at 207-624-7650.

The candidate who is elected by the voters in Senate District 7 at the June 14 special election will serve the remainder of the two-year term in the Maine Senate.