Outsider’s win in St. John Valley brings Paradis political dynasty to end

MADAWASKA – A retired paperworker dismantled the Paradis Democratic political machine in northern Aroostook County on Tuesday by gaining the Democratic primary nod in Maine House District 2.

Charles Kenneth Theriault’s win, the biggest political overthrow in decades in northern Maine, came when he earned 57 percent of the vote to incumbent Frenchville Democrat Rosaire Paradis’ 43 percent. The election ended a Paradis family dynasty which had either Paradis or his wife, Judy Paradis, serving in the Maine Legislature through the last two decades.

Theriault may well be the next representative for House District 2. The Republican seeking the seat, Rudolph St. Peter of Cross Lake, said Wednesday that he is no longer running.

“I have been running to remove Paradis,” he said. “I am confident that northern Maine will now have the representation it should have.”

The unofficial tally of the votes in the 10-precinct district was 766-580. Theriault won seven of the 10 precincts, including the Paradis’ hometowns of Frenchville and St. Agatha with votes of 122-79 and 65-47 in each municipality respectively. Theriault also won in the district’s largest community, Madawaska, by a vote of 513-417.

Paradis, 66, and a retired educator, won three precincts at Madawaska Lake by a vote of 5-4, Stockholm 10-8 and Portage Lake 6-5.

“It feels good having the pressure off,” Theriault, a former union officer at Fraser Papers Inc. and a local volunteer, said after the win Wednesday. “I had a feeling this would happen because I was well received everywhere I went.”

Paradis said Wednesday morning he was “accepting reality.”

“He did a better job than I did in getting his votes out,” Paradis said. “We helped a lot of people over the years and they didn’t go out and vote for us. We were banking on them. People might have wanted a change,” he said. “He [Theriault] was well-organized and got his support group out.”

Paradis, who was seeking his fourth term in the state House of Representatives, said he would not venture into politics again. His wife, Judy Paradis, served 14 years in Augusta, six years in the Maine House and eight in the Maine Senate before being termed out six years ago.

“We will take the time to regain our lives,” Paradis said. “We put many things on hold over the years. It’s been a long haul.

“It’s time to close that chapter of our lives,” he said.