BY SUSAN M. COVER

Staff Writer

The town of Farmington officially notified Gov. John Baldacci Thursday of a vacancy in Maine House of Representatives, which sets in motion the process for filling the District 89 seat.

Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis wrote a letter to Baldacci asking for a special election to fill the seat vacated by Democrat Janet Mills, who was selected earlier this month by the House to serve as the state's next attorney general.

Mills won election to the House seat in November, but was never sworn in to office.

House District 89 covers Farmington and Industry.

In January, Mills will become the first woman in Maine history to serve as attorney general. She is a former district attorney for Franklin, Androscoggin and Oxford counties and has served three terms in the House.

In November, Mills defeated Republican Keith Mahoney, of Farmington, for the House seat. In the previous two elections, she defeated Republican Lance Harvell, also of Farmington.

The Secretary of State's Office will now ask Baldacci to sign a proclamation that puts forward dates for the parties to nominate candidates, a deadline for unenrolled candidates to submit signatures, and the date of the special election.

Initially, the town of Farmington had hoped the election could be Jan. 22, 2009, when voters will already be at the polls to decide a school issue. However, Davis said Thursday that the statute governing special legislative elections requires more lead time.

With the Mills vacancy, the makeup of the House is 95 Democrats, 54 Republicans and one unenrolled.

Dennis Haszko, 41, of Farmington, is a Democrat who confirmed Thursday that he is planning to run for the seat.

A patent agent, it will be his first run for office.

"I'm running to make a difference," he said. "I have a vested interest in my family and my life here in Maine."

Harvell, 45, who works at Verso Paper, also said he will run again.

"As a country and as a state, we've lived beyond our means," he said. "We're going to really have to set our priorities."

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com