Hancock County official concedes loss in race decided by 69 votes

A Hancock County Commissioner narrowly lost a race for re-election, falling short of his challenger by 69 votes.

Paul Paradis, a former town councilor from Bar Harbor who has served as a county commissioner since 2021, was edged out Tuesday by Sam DiBella, a selectman from the town of Hancock who also has been serving on the county's budget advisory committee. DiBella won the race with 5,931 votes while Paradis received 5,862 votes, according to unofficial results.

Paradis said that, even though the difference in the totals represents only half a percentage point of all the votes cast in the race, he will not seek a recount. He said he trusts that the results are accurate.

"It looks consistent with the rest of the vote," Paradis said of the ballots cast in all races in the towns in the commission district. That district consists of towns on Mount Desert Island and nearby offshore islands, as well as Franklin, Hancock, Lamoine and Trenton.

"I would look like an idiot and gain nothing," he said with a laugh.

Paradis has held political office for 18 years, first as a town councilor in Bar Harbor from 2006 to 2019, and then on the county commission since 2020. He said he thought he was leaving politics when he decided not to run again for Bar Harbor's town council, but got roped back in again a year later.

Paradis, a registered Republican, ran for the commission in 2020 as an official write-in candidate against Ian Schwartz, whose candidacy raised alarm among some of his fellow Democrats because of controversial opinions he posted on social media. Paradis defeated Schwartz by more than 2,000 votes, winning 6,745 to Schwartz's 4,648.

Paradis said he doesn't see himself running for elective office again.

"I've always liked the business part of it, but I've always hated the politics part of it," said Paradis, who owns and operates Paradis Ace Hardware in Bar Harbor.

DiBella said he is glad that Paradis has decided not to challenge the vote tally.

"That's a good thing," DiBella said. "I am glad that I won."

DiBella's four-year term starts in January. Other commissioners include William Clark, a former Hancock County sheriff who this week was re-elected, and John Wombacher, who is up for re-election in 2026.