Maine's ranked choice voting system delivered its verdict Friday morning, advancing Democrat Hanna Pingree to face Republican Bobby Charles in the gubernatorial race while setting up a marquee House battle between Democratic state auditor Matt Dunlap and former Governor Paul LePage.
Pingree enters the general election as the clear favorite in a state that backed Kamala Harris by seven points in 2024. Charles, a former naval intelligence officer who ran the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs under President George W. Bush, has built his campaign around federal law enforcement experience and attacks on what he calls "woke policies" from the state capital.
The more dramatic result came in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, where Dunlap pulled off a narrow ranked choice victory despite finishing second in first-choice votes. The state auditor and former secretary of state ran explicitly as a progressive, championing Medicare for All and leveraging decades of political roots across Maine.
Dunlap's main rival was Joe Baldacci, a state senator and son of a former governor who carried backing from the House Democratic campaign apparatus and the party's leading super PAC. Baldacci was eliminated before final tabulation; so was Jordan Wood, onetime chief of staff to former Representative Katie Porter, who had been another progressive contender.
The district has been reliably Democratic for years, with Representative Jared Golden surviving repeated Republican assaults even as Donald Trump carried the area in 2020. But Trump's 2024 margin there swelled to nine points after Golden announced his retirement, transforming the seat into one of Republicans' most winnable pickups nationwide.
LePage, who served two terms as governor and attempted an unsuccessful comeback in 2022, enters the general election as a Trump-endorsed candidate who has said he was "Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular." His name recognition and political machinery make him formidable, though his history of provocative public statements provides Democrats with a line of attack. Both campaigns are expected to attract heavy spending from national party committees and outside groups.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Dunlap's ranked choice victory over the establishment pick signals Maine Democrats aren't ready to play it safe in a race they've held for years but could actually lose."
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