BANGOR – A hard-fought battle for a spot on the November election ballot was decided Tuesday when Democrats from the city’s west side picked a 24-year-old community organizer seeking his first elective position.

With 410 votes, Adam Goode outpaced Gerry Palmer and Roberto Zavaleta in a three-way battle for the right to run against Republican Charles “Nick” Bearce in the general election for the state House of Representatives from District 15 this fall.

Palmer, a Bangor city councilor and former Penobscot County treasurer who turned 60 on Monday, received 115 votes, according to unofficial election returns posted Tuesday night on the city of Bangor’s Web site.

Zavaleta, a 41-year-old information technology, human resources and benefits specialist for Rhoades Building Products, received 71 votes.

“Basically, it was clear that people [in District 15] really appreciated the fact that I made a strong effort to contact them lots of times during the campaign,” Goode said late Tuesday night.

“That made a big difference, the personal connections and follow-through over the three months of the campaign,” he said. “I really was not taking anybody’s vote for granted.”

Goode said that his primary opponents also worked hard.

“I definitely respect both of them,” he said, noting that he and his Democratic challengers frequently encountered on another on the campaign trail.

“One thing that I kept hearing from people was that this was the first time they’ve had to make a choice not among the lesser of evils but among the better of multiple goods. It was really good to hear.”

A community organizer for the Maine People’s Alliance, Goode began working on public policy issues while in college.

He said he has helped get legislation passed that protects children from toxic chemicals, improves access to health care coverage and protects residents from discrimination – issues he said are important to people from District 15 and the rest of Maine.

If elected, Goode said, he wants to work toward easing the tax burden on working people by balancing the state budget. He also wants to work to maintain the values and traditions that make Maine the state it is.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

990-8189