Press Herald -An experienced social worker soundly defeated a longtime local business owner in Tuesday’s citywide special election for the District 5 City Council seat.
Deqa Dhalac, intercultural program manager at the Center for Grieving Children in Portland, beat Donald “Cookie” Cook, owner of Rolando’s Redemption on outer Main Street, 1,418 to 700. Deqa Dhalac, left, defeated and Donald Cook 1,418 votes to 700 in the District 5 City Council contest. D
Dhalac, 52, is believed to be the first African-American and the first Muslim to be elected to the council, said Kathy DiPhilippo, a city historian.
“This is absolutely wonderful,” Dhalac said after hearing the results Tuesday night. “I am so proud and humbled that the voters of South Portland have placed their trust in me. It’s a privilege and a responsibility, and I’m ready to go to work for them.”
A single mother of three, Dhalac said her campaign was a labor of love and she would have been proud of her effort even if she had lost. But she admitted to a particular sense of satisfaction having succeeded as an immigrant and a woman of color at a time when hateful political rhetoric is common.
“I’m glad that a little girl who looks like me will see me and think, ‘I can do that, too,’ ” said Dhalac, a native of Somalia who became a U.S. citizen in 1998 and moved to South Portland in 2008.
South Portland is 92% white and 1% African American
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