Phoenix McLaughlin unanimously elected chair of Lewiston School Committee

The Lewiston School Committee on Feb. 2 unanimously elected Phoenix McLaughlin as chair for 2026 after nominations and a roll-call vote.

McLaughlin accepted the nomination and said his priorities if selected would be "to try to run the meetings well and coordinate the agendas for the committee work over the course of the year," focusing on immediate district needs and longer-term issues. Member Luke Jensen, who also had been nominated, described priorities he would pursue if chair, including improving committee organization and public communication and adding a vice-chair position to decentralize authority.

Member Janet Bowden, who had been nominated by Member Hurd, delivered a prepared statement and removed herself from consideration. In that statement she said the board had become "far more focused on individual party lines than experience or leadership" and that recent mayoral appointments had "tipped the balance," then announced she would withdraw and support another member.

After nominations, the committee conducted roll-call voting and recorded a unanimous outcome to approve McLaughlin. A member made a formal motion to adopt McLaughlin as chair, which was seconded and passed. Chair-elect McLaughlin thanked members and said he would continue working through the agenda.

The committee followed procedural rules laid out at the start of the meeting that required five affirmative votes to elect a chair and allowed up to three rounds of voting if a candidate did not initially secure the necessary support. The vote reported in the meeting packet and recorded during roll call was unanimous.

The committee moved on to the rest of its agenda following the selection and formal approval of the chair.