Editor’s note: PolitickerME.com has attempted to break down the state Senate races. Click here for a comprehensive overview, and on the following links for a closer look at the three tossup races – Senate District 1, Senate District 15 and Senate District 22.

Senate District 1 Sen. Peter Bowman (D-Kittery) v. Mary Andrews (R-York) PolitickerME.com rating: Tossup

The candidates:

Incumbent Sen. Peter Bowman (D-Kittery) is finishing his first term. He has had both a career in the military on a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine and as a commander at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

He has also served as vice president of a regional manufacturing company and was appointed by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as a commissioner on the 1993 Defense Base Closure Commission.

In the legislature, he was handed a tough assignment for a freshman – chairman of the Education Committee, which was tasked with the school district consolidation project.

Challenger Mary Andrews (R-York) is a former legislator, serving three terms in the House and one term in the Senate. She has also served on the Education Committee and was a ranking member on both the Marine Resources and State and Local Government Committees.

Andrews is a retired emergency room supervisor at York Hospital. She is a visible figure in the community, volunteering for a number of community services.

More information: Seacoast Online profile, Downeast profile

The district:

Senate District 1 includes five of Maine’s southernmost towns.

• Eliot: 5,185 registered voters – 1,449 Democrats, 1,552 Republicans and 2,183 unenrolled
• Kittery: 6,509 registered voters – 2,363 Democrats, 1,685 Republicans and 2,461 unenrolled
• Ogunquit: 1,094 registered voters – 399 Democrats, 277 Republicans and 418 unenrolled
• South Berwick: 4,696 registered voters – 1,436 Democrats, 1,319 Republicans and 1,941 unenrolled
• York: 10,325 registered voters – 3,022 Democrats, 2,995 Republicans and 4,308 unenrolled

Overall, the district’s voters are split with 8,669 Democrats, 7,828 Republicans and 11,311 unenrolled.

Geographically, Andrews will have a strong advantage from the unenrolled in York because of her community involvement. Bowman lives in Kittery, and in 2006 had his best showing in the southern part of the district. His work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and his endorsement from the AFL-CIO will earn him the votes of the shipyard workers who live in the southern part of the state.

However, Question 1 will weigh heavily on the minds of small business owners on the New Hampshire border. The referendum question seeks to repeal the recently passed beer, wine and soda taxes. Bowman supported the new taxes, and Andrews opposes them.

To seal the deal, Bowman will need to break into Andrews’ base in York and earn a good portion of the unenrolled in Ogunquit and South Berwick.

Andrews will need to press the taxation issue in Kittery and play to her base in York.

South Berwick may be the wild card – and the determining region – in this race.

Campaign spending:

Both candidates are running under the Maine Clean Elections Act. As of Oct. 31, Andrews had received $46,232 in public funds, and Bowman had received $42,153.

There has been $40,883 in independent expenditures for Andrews: $21,680 from the Maine Republican Party, $8,739 from the Maine Prosperity PAC, $9,034 from the Maine Senate Republican Committee, and $1,430 from the Maine Truck PAC.

There has been $45,428 in independent expenditures for Bowman: $11,233 from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, $27,990 from the Maine Democratic Party, $587 from the Maine People’s Alliance, $326 from the Equality Maine PAC and $5,292 from the Maine Conservation Voters Action Fund.

This is the seat that the Maine Republicans are targeting the most aggressively.