AUGUSTA, Maine — Republicans flipped a seat in the Maine House Tuesday night during a special election on the midcoast.
Residents voted 52 to 48 percent, with a 121 vote margin, to elect former Rep. Abden Simmons, R-Waldoboro, over former Rep. Wendy Pieh, D-Bremen, for House District 45, according to preliminary results.
According to the Maine Department of the Secretary of State, Rep. Pieh received 1,317 votes and Rep. Simmons won with 1,438 votes.
Simmons will now represent Bremen, Friendship, Louds Island Township, Waldoboro, and Washington after Democrat Rep. Clinton Collamore resigned from his seat.
Collamore's resignation in February came after allegations claiming he forged signatures to collect public campaign funds, totaling $14,000, and violated the Maine Clean Elections Act. He pleaded not guilty to a following indictment.
Collamore said he returned his legislative salary and will send back Maine Clean Elections Act funding he received to the state.