LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Votes will have to be redistricted under Maine’s ranked choice system to determine the winner of a key congressional race, election officials said. The trial began Friday despite Democratic Rep. Jared Golden’s claim that he had already won outright, without the need for additional tabulations.
The contest between Golden and Republican challenger Austin Theriault in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District was one of the few crucial races still without a declared winner, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake.
At this point, Maine’s winner won’t be announced until next week.
In ranked voting, if no candidate receives a majority in the first round, the last-place supporters’ lesser choices are reallocated to obtain a majority. The second choices of voters who left their first choice blank will also be counted. If reassigning this second choice does not give one candidate at least 50% plus one vote, the third choices are counted, and so on.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race. That won’t happen until next week, after ballots from all of the county’s many cities and towns have been transported to the capital and rescanned into a computer at a central location.
The initial count was so close that Theriault had already moved to request a recount, but Theriault’s campaign signaled Friday that it supported the ranked count.
“There is a process underway and we look forward to the process unfolding according to the law,” said Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick.
Golden emphasized that the ranked choice process is not necessary.
“The rules are clear: a run-off in the rankings is only necessary if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes for the first choice. When the clerks reported their returns on Tuesday, Congressman Golden was the candidate who received more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes. Voters have the right to have elections decided both accurately and quickly,” his campaign said.
Ranked-ranked voting typically comes into play in races with more than two candidates on the ballot. Golden and Theriault were the only candidates on the ballot, but writing in candidates was an option.
Maine has no mandatory recounts, even in close elections. But the state does allow candidates to request a recount. The state does not require a deposit for a recount if the margin of victory in congressional races is 1% or less.
The slim margin came in an election in which Republican Donald Trump won the 2nd District, allowing him to collect one of Maine’s four electoral votes. Maine is one of two states where the electoral votes are divided.
During the campaign, Golden touted his ability to work with members of both political parties and his advocacy for the lobster industry, which is the lifeblood of the region’s economy.
Theriault, who was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2022, spent much of the campaign portraying Golden as too liberal for the district. While Theriault had Trump’s support, he also tried to portray himself as a potential unifier during a divisive time in Washington.
