Ethan Strimling

Ethan King Strimling (born October 19, 1967) is an American non-profit executive and politician from Maine. Strimling was elected Mayor of Portland, Maine in 2015. Strimling previously served as a Democratic state senator from 2003 to 2009. After leaving the Maine Senate, he was the Executive Director of LearningWorks, a West End non-profit organization, and has served as a political columnist and commentator for the Portland Press Herald. Ethan Strimling was born and raised in New York City and attended the Juilliard School for Theater from 1985 to 1987. Later, he attended the University of Maine and received his B.A. in History. He then pursued a master's degree in education from Harvard University and received it in 1994. He is Jewish. After school, he went to Washington, D.C. to work as a legislative aide for then-First District Congressman Tom Andrews. He then came back to Maine to serve as State Senator Dale McCormick's Campaign Manager for her 1996 Congressional race. Strimling began serving as the Executive Director of Portland West, a non-profit social-service agency that works with at-risk kids and low-income families in Portland's West End, in 1997. Strimling has also served on the boards of several political and non-profit committees, including Maine Won't Discriminate, Casinos NO!, and the Maine NAACP. Strimling's first run for public office was for the Portland City Council in 1999. He was defeated by incumbent Jack Dawson by just 24 votes. During a recount, the City Council awarded 35 disputed ballots to Strimling after his campaign argued that voters who filled in a blank line below his name had intended to vote for him. After the Council decided to preliminarily award Stimling the election longtime city councilor and former Mayor Cheryl A. Leeman commented "This is the worst example of politics that i've seen in my years in this chamber." When Dawson appealed the decision to Maine Superior Court, Strimling announced that he would step aside and give Dawson the council seat.