AUGUSTA, Maine — After several days of ranked choice vote tabulation following a razor-thin race between incumbent Democratic candidate Jared Golden and Republican candidate Austin Theriault, a winner was declared Friday night for Maine's 2nd Congressional District.
Golden won with 50.35 percent of votes, totaling 197,151 votes, with Theriault narrowly trailing behind with 49.65 percent of votes, totaling 194,445.
Golden had already said he won the election in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, but the secretary of state said neither Golden nor Republican Austin Theriault surpassed 50 percent of first-place votes on Election Day, necessitating the shipment of ballots to the state capital for a ranked choice voting round to determine who will represent Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Under Maine's ranked choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference on ballots. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, then the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated to establish a majority winner.
Election officials began scanning ballots into a computer Tuesday afternoon, with a goal of finishing the tabulation by week's end. Now that ranked voting is concluded, state election officials will begin a formal recount requested by Theriault based on the razor-thin margin.
A live stream of the ranked choice vote tabulation was made available here.
After election night, both candidates were just below 49 percent, with Golden holding a slight edge of about 2,000 votes, according to figures released by the secretary of state. Golden and Theriault were the only candidates on the ballot, but Diana Merenda of Surry, who ran an organized write-in candidacy, received several hundred votes. The second choices of any voters who left their first choice blank were also counted. Other write-in candidates were treated as blanks.
The race is among a handful of pivotal races, with control of the U.S. House at stake. The thin 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 that split electoral votes.
Golden released the following statement after his election night victory was confirmed in the ranked choice runoff count Friday night:
"Last week, I congratulated my opponent for being a fierce challenger and for his serious, well-run campaign. But today’s result reaffirms what we have known for more than a week: The people have chosen me to continue as their representative for another term in Congress. I am grateful for their confidence.
"State Rep. Austin Theriault is within his rights to force a third accounting of ballots with a taxpayer-funded recount, but the votes have been counted twice now and my lead has been in the thousands of votes both times.
"I am moving forward with my work in Congress, where I will continue to work with anyone — Democrats, Republicans and independents — to lower Mainers’ costs, protect our freedoms and our way of life, and ensure our safety and prosperity."
Theriault's campaign released the following statement, reasserting their call for a recount:
"With the race for Maine's Second Congressional District remaining the closest federal race in modern Maine history following the allocation of ranked choice votes, we are renewing our call for a state-funded automatic recount of the results. Every Mainer's voice should be heard and their vote counted in this historically close race and we have seen several anomalies that can only be rectified with a full recount. We appreciate everyone's patience and support as we work to ensure every vote is counted."