West End Resident Re-districts Himself for Munjoy Hill Council Race

Local activist Kevin Donoghue has moved from Pine Street in Portland’s West End to North Street on Munjoy Hill to challenge Portland City Councilor Will Gorham for the District 1 seat on the Portland City Council.

Donohue, 27, is co-chair of the Portland Green Independent Committee, and a student at USM's Muskie School of Public Service. He said that he is running to fight a "lack of vision and respect for citizen review" on the Council. He referred to ‘re-districting’ himself as a reminder of the 2004 statewide redistricting which resulted in West End State Representative John Eder being redistricted out of the district to which he had be elected. Eder, the highest-ranking Green Party official in the country, moved back into his district and won re-election in 2004.

Donoghue has been active in promoting an overhaul of the city’s public transit system, and other municipal policy issues. He says that he will only accept pledges under $100 donated from Portland residents and businesses. He called on Gorham to do the same.

Gorham, a Munjoy Hill native who owns a home just three doors down from Donoghue’s new residence, was elected to the City Council in 2003, and has most recently been involved with policing issues in the Old Port, which is in his district. He welcomed Donohue’s entry into the race, saying that his grandmother was a Donoghue, and that his mother’s maiden name was Green.