Convicted Killer Wins Office In Trump-Leaning Maine District

One of the state’s most conservative regions…

In Tuesday’s Bangor, Maine, City Council election, voters chose Angela Kelly Walker, Susan Faloon, and Daniel Carson from a field of nine candidates competing for three seats.

Though the positions are technically nonpartisan, all three councilors-elect are progressives, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Walker, a recovering addict, won by the narrowest margin.

Voters in the city were also willing to look past Walker’s criminal record. She was convicted of manslaughter in the 2002 death of a Canadian tourist in Old Orchard Beach, later pleading guilty and serving 10 years in prison. (RELATED: Family Immigration Controversy Follows Candidate’s Historic Victory)

Walker later admitted guilt in the death of Derek Rogers, who was beaten and suffocated — with sand forced down his throat — after allegedly hurling a racial slur at her.

The Maine Wire provides further details regarding the horrific crime:

His lifeless body was found on the beach on August 1, 2002, in a section of the popular coastal beach town known as Ocean Park.

He had been a musician who played trombone for the Canadian Central Command Band.

Rogers, whose family had vacationed in Old Orchard for generations, had spent several weeks at the beach with his wife of 20 years, Faith, police said at the time.

She had left Old Orchard to return to work, but Rogers was staying longer.

During her campaign, Walker addressed her past directly, saying, “It’s my past … I don’t live there anymore and I’m a different person.”

The City Council race also highlighted key local issues, including homelessness, public transit funding, housing, and economic development.

Bangor, often described as a swing region, has leaned Democratic in recent years. While the city itself skews liberal, it sits within Maine’s 2nd Congressional District — a conservative-leaning area that has voted for Donald Trump in all three of his presidential runs. (RELATED: Maine Republican Comes Out In Support Of Removing Trump From Ballot)

On Wednesday, the district’s representative, Democrat Jared Golden, announced in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News that he will not seek reelection next year.

“I have never loved politics,” Golden wrote. “But I find purpose and meaning in service … After 11 years as a legislator, I have grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community.”

The Cook Political Report currently rates the seat as a “Toss Up.”

READ NEXT: ‘Highly Unusual’ Developments Put Key Trump Case Under Scrutiny