SORRENTO – A Sorrento firefighter is the apparent winner in Tuesday’s three-way race for the Republican primary for District 132 in the Maine House of Representatives.

Leonard “Earl” Bierman received 378 total votes, beating Raymond Jones of Gouldsboro by 64 votes. Ferdinand “Andy” Slater of Hancock finished in third place with 220 votes.

Bierman, Jones and Slater were vying for the Republican nomination for the seat now held by Lamoine resident William Pinkham. Pinkham is prevented by term limits from running for the seat again, but is the sole Republican candidate for Maine Senate District 5.

The district includes Eastbrook, Gouldsboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Osborn, Sorrento, Trenton, Waltham and Winter Harbor, as well as the unorganized territory of Township 8.

Bierman, 36, has worked full-time for the past two years as a firefighter at the Navy base at Schoodic Point. He said Wednesday that the race among Jones, Slater and himself was a good one and that he hoped to get their support in November.

“I went door-to-door for over a week,” Bierman said of his efforts to promote his campaign. He said he was motivated to run after he traveled to New York City last fall to help out with the recovery effort from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

“It truly had a life-changing effect on me,” Bierman said. Before becoming a firefighter, he said, he worked as a grammar school teacher in Hancock, Steuben and Sullivan for six years.

The primary race was tiring and he needs to rest a few days before he starts thinking about the general election in November, Bierman said. He will face Gouldsboro resident William Stone, the only declared Democratic candidate for the seat.

“I definitely need to take a few days’ [rest],” he said.

Jones, 66, of Gouldsboro is retired from IBM. He has been active on many municipal committees in Gouldsboro, where he serves as chairman of the planning board. He said he served during the 1970s and 1980s on a local school board in Putnam County in New York.

Jones said Wednesday he was glad he ran, despite his loss.

“It was a close vote,” the candidate said. “It’s always difficult in a three-way race.”

Jones said he hadn’t had time to think about whom he’ll support in the general election. “I haven’t digested the whole thing,” he said.

Slater, a Hancock resident, is a defense attorney. Attempts made Wednesday to contact him were unsuccessful.

Bierman took the lead early Tuesday night when Sorrento, his hometown, reported 52 votes for him, eight for Jones and six for Slater. Bierman carried every town in the district with the exception of Gouldsboro, where Jones lives, and Eastbrook.

Jones received 114 votes in his hometown, while Bierman received 82 and Slater 22. Slater got 13 votes in Eastbrook, three more than Bierman and six more than Jones.