Kevin O'Connell (politician)
Politics
### Politics

O'Connell served as mayor of [Brewer, Maine](/wiki/Brewer%2C_Maine "Brewer, Maine") in 2013 and 2017\. He also served on the Brewer city council and school board at various times.

O'Connell ran in a special election for the [128th district](/wiki/Maine%27s_128th_House_of_Representatives_district "Maine's 128th House of Representatives district") in the [Maine House of Representatives](/wiki/Maine_House_of_Representatives "Maine House of Representatives") to fill the remainder of Democrat [Arthur Verow](/wiki/Arthur_Verow "Arthur Verow")'s term, who had died on December 19, 2019, of a [heart attack](/wiki/Heart_attack "Heart attack"). He won the election, held on March 3, 2020, against Republican [Garrel Craig](/wiki/Garrel_Craig "Garrel Craig"), a former member of the House who had previously held that seat from 2016–2018\. O'Connell defeated Craig in a rematch for the regularly\-scheduled [2020 election](/wiki/2020_Maine_House_of_Representatives_election "2020 Maine House of Representatives election").

[In 2022](/wiki/2022_Maine_House_of_Representatives_election "2022 Maine House of Representatives election"), O'Connell ran in the redrawn [20th district](/wiki/Maine%27s_20th_House_of_Representatives_district "Maine's 20th House of Representatives district"), narrowly winning another term against Republican Jennifer Morin.

In the legislature, O'Connell has advocated for restricting the practice of [child marriage](/wiki/Child_marriage "Child marriage") in Maine. He first introduced a bill to restrict child marriage in 2021, though it failed to pass the [Maine Senate](/wiki/Maine_Senate "Maine Senate"). In 2023, he again introduced legislation to raise the [marriage age](/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_States "Marriage age in the United States") to 18, but the bill was modified to only raise the age to 17 before being passed by both chambers. O'Connell has stated that he would like to eventually see the age raised to 18\.


Who was O'Connell's opponent in his 2022 election?