With little more than a week before the June 8 primaries, keep in mind the stranger knocking at your door just might be representing you in Augusta next year.

Such retail politicking is part and parcel of primary season, which this year includes a number of key races, the victors of which will help determine the makeup of the closely divided Maine Legislature.

Election officials expect voter turnout to be low despite the presence of a major school funding initiative on the ballot.

“People are saying, ‘What election?'” said Bangor City Clerk Gail Campbell, basing her projections on a lackluster demand for absentee ballots.

Statewide, there are 36 legislative primaries, 19 among Democrats, 16 among Republicans and one – the state’s first – involving Green Party candidates.

Considering the predicted turnout, Rep. Joseph Perry, D-Bangor, said voter mobilization would be key to any candidate’s victory.

“Whoever gets their people out is going to win,” Perry said of his Senate District 32 primary against Jeff Lowell, a graduate student whose campaign has drawn some support from the party’s more progressive quarters. “I can look down the voter list and recognize a whole lot of names. I doubt [Lowell] can do that.”

The winner will challenge Republican Sen. W. Tom Sawyer in November.

Democrats count Sawyer’s seat among their top targets, hoping their candidate can knock off the two-term incumbent and allow the party some breathing room in the narrowly split Senate.

While Perry has proved unbeatable in the east side House district he has represented for the past eight years, a senate campaign is a larger undertaking. Although Lowell is a relative newcomer to the area, he remained confident.

“We’re getting down to the wire, but I have a lot of people,” said Lowell, who spent most of Thursday knocking on doors.

Other key local races include a Senate District 30 primary contest between George Jacobson and Elizabeth Schneider, both Orono Democrats. The winner will challenge Rep. Anita Peavey Haskell, a Greenbush Republican, for the open seat.

On the House side, the most coveted seat is in Hancock County with five candidates – three Democrats and two Republicans vying for their parties’ nominations next month. In November, the winners of the two primaries will face a Green challenger for the District 127 seat.

This year marks a breakthrough of sorts for Maine Republicans, who for the first time in more than 50 years have fielded a full slate of legislative candidates. Democrats have fielded candidates in all but three of the state’s 186 legislative districts, and Green hopefuls are competing in a record 22 districts.

The 16 GOP primary contests mark a high point for the party, said the party’s executive director, Dwayne Bickford. He attributes the increased participation to frustration with the recent Democratic dominance in Augusta.

“[Our candidates] realize running for office is a vehicle for change,” he said.