Jared Golden wins Maine Second District - Democrat beats the incumbent

Report published in the Bangor Daily News

Congressman elect Jared Golden- Democrat from Lewiston Maine

By Michael Shepherd, BDN Staff • November 15, 2018 12:31 pm 

Updated: November 15, 2018

AUGUSTA, Maine — Assistant Maine House Majority Leader Jared Golden defeated U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in a ranked-choice count in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District that finished on Thursday and is the subject of an uphill challenge in federal court by the Republican incumbent.

The result would be a historic one: As it stands, Golden, a 36-year-old Democrat from Lewiston, is the first person to defeat an incumbent in the largely rural 2nd District’s modern-era configuration as it stands after it went hard in 2016 for President Donald Trump, a Republican.

“Mainers want a new generation of leaders who will fix our dysfunctional political system so that it serves the people first and foremost, and I’m going to do my part to give them what they deserve,” Golden said in a victory speech in Augusta.

Democrats clinched a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in last week’s election, flipping the chamber from Republican control. If Golden’s victory stands, they would likely control at least 230 seats to Republicans’ 199. Five other races were still undecided as of Thursday.

Secretary of State report

In fact, the race between Golden and Poliquin was heavily nationalized and became the most expensive U.S. House election in Maine history. The candidates and outside groups spent nearly $20.6 million on the race by Election Day. More than 58 percent came from Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Poliquin outpolled Golden by roughly 2,000 votes on Election Day, winning 46.3 percent of votes to Golden’s 45.6 percent, according to unofficial results reported to the Bangor Daily News. But Maine’s ranked-choice voting system — enshrined by voters in 2016 — kicked in because neither candidate won a majority and 8 percent of voters ranked one of the two independents first.

Votes for lawyer Tiffany Bond of Portland and educator Will Hoar of Southwest Harbor were reallocated over a five-day count by Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office in Augusta that ended on Thursday. Golden was declared the winner as a result of the ranked-choice counting with 50.53 percent of votes to Poliquin’s 49.47 percent.

Now the focus shifts to U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker, who on Wednesday heard arguments in Poliquin’s lawsuit against Dunlap over ranked-choice voting, which was filed on Tuesday. It claims that the method violates the U.S. Constitution and other areas of law and asks a judge to stop the ranked-choice count and declare Poliquin the winner.

About 90 minutes before the ranked ballots were to be tallied, Walker denied Poliquin’s request for a restraining order to stop the count. That cleared the way for the next round of ranked-choice voting to take place in Augusta. It also dealt a major blow to Poliquin’s overall legal bid, though the Republican said in a statement that he would continue the court fight.