Three Portland Board of Public Education seats are up for election on Nov. 5: an at-large seat and the District 1 and District 2 seats. Only the at-large seat is contested on the ballot.

That seat is currently held by Board member Nyalat Billiew, who is not seeing re-election. Two candidates are vying for that at-large seat: Maya Lena and John Rousseau, both newcomers to Portland politics. Lena is a substitute teacher and artist in Portland and a PPS parent. Rousseau is the founder of a flooring business and the parent of a recent PPS graduate.

The District 1 seat is held by Board member Abusana “Micky” Bondo, the current Board vice chair, who faces no opponent on the ballot in her bid for a third term. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bondo is a PPS parent and is the director of In Her Presence, a nonprofit that seeks to empower immigrant women.

The District 2 seat is held by Board member Emily Figdor, who is not seeking re-election. Abdulkadir Ali, another political newcomer, is running unopposed for that seat. On his LinkedIn page, he describes himself as “an Ethiopian-American social activist.” He’s an artistic director with Maine Inside Out, an organization that uses theater to engage communities around the subject of incarceration, and works as an organizer with Maine Youth Justice.  

All Board seats are for three-year terms. All Board and City Council races in Portland are decided by ranked choice voting.

Learn more about the candidates in this article in the Portland Press Herald:

Click on the City Clerk’s website for more information about voting in Portland.