AUGUSTA, Maine — The fate of congressional district two is now in the hands of Mainers who voted for Independent Tiffany Bond.
The seven percent of voters who wanted the candidate in Washington will now see their second choices turn into votes for either former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, or U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
Golden said his 48% prior to ranked-choice tabulation should carry him to victory once a fraction of Bond supporters fill his numbers.
"I am deeply honored that the people of Maine’s Second District have chosen me to represent them in Washington for another two-year term," Golden said on Thursday in Lewiston. "Although Bruce Poliquin may not be willing to concede, at this point the final result is undeniably clear. The few precincts that remain cannot meaningfully alter the position of this race. In an instant runoff against Bruce Poliquin, we are confident that our lead will hold or even extend by a comfortable margin."
Emily Cook, director of communication for the Maine secretary of state's office, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Thursday that Golden's announcement did not change anything, as ballots from all over congressional district two, the largest district in terms of land east of the Mississippi River, came pouring into Augusta for ranked-choice tabulations.
The bulk of the process, according to Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, is verifying all the ballots were delivered and filed accurately.
Bellows added the state hopes that the official count after verification will take a matter of minutes, adding that results should be available by Tuesday evening.
"The second choice of the people who put Tiffany Bond as their first choice will determine if they get reassigned to Golden or Poliquin," Bellows said.
In addition to state agencies and Maine State Police officers present for the tabulations, representatives from each of the top campaigns were there to view the process.
Ben Trundy, campaign manager for the Poliquin team, said that Poliquin losing the initial vote was not how the campaign hoped the results would be, adding that it came unexpectedly. Trundy did not say Poliquin concedes.
“The results are what they are. We wished it would have been different, but this is the process we have, so we’re just here observing, seeing everything through the campaign,” Trundy said. “Clearly that was not what it was, but those are the unknowns. I think we’re still doing the math on it. Could we have done things differently? Sure.”
Representatives from Golden’s campaign deferred to Golden’s communication team for comment, which referred NEWS CENTER Maine to the declaration of victory Golden made on Thursday.
Tabulations will continue into Tuesday, with the hope a winner will be declared in CD-2.
If Golden wins re-election, he is going to represent the same district that voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020. Unless the vast majority of Bond voters have their second choice for Poliquin, the re-election of Golden is the most likely scenario.