Campaign against Portland rent control cost $21 per vote

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A campaign that successfully opposed a measure in Portland, Maine, to restrict rent increases cost about $21 for each vote.

The Portland Press Herald reports Say No To Rent Control spent over $285,000 on an initiative to reject the measure. The question was defeated by a vote of 13,466 to 7,597.

If the measure was approved, city rents would have been frozen and rent increases would have been capped at 10 percent. The measure also would have made it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants.

Say No To Rent Control campaign manager Lance Dutson says fundraising is a reflection of the support a campaign has. Duston says the rent control campaign was “flawed and unpopular.”

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com