Lewis, Davenport were elected as mayors

Twenty-five years ago this week, Portland re-elected its mayor while Dunkirk selected its new leader.

The Nov. 8, 1995, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the year’s municipal election, featuring wins by Maxine Lewis for mayor of Portland and Robert Davenport for mayor of Dunkirk.

Lewis won by just 33 votes over Republican challenger Bruce Hosier. She had trailed by 77 votes after results from the first two precincts were reported, but performed well enough in the others to flip the race.

“Hot damn,” Lewis said of her victory, flashing a grin and pumping her arms in the air.

“I was getting scared,” she added. “You’re just worried. You don’t know what people think. You just work your hardest and hope that the people know you did a good job.”

The victory resulted in her own term in office after she had been appointed mayor in 1993 following the death of Vaughn Bailey.

Davenport, a Republican, took the Dunkirk mayoral race 443-304 over Democrat Robert Urick. He replaced Republican Grant Fager, who chose not to seek re-election.

“It’s kind of the honeymoon now, but reality will set in between now and the first of the year,” said Davenport. “I plan to get together with the mayor (Fager) soon and see what I can do. I plan to have an open office and take ideas from the citizens.”

In another key race that year, longtime Portland City Court Judge Larry Freyburgher defeated Democratic challenger George Reitenour 1,164-888.