AP Calls Maine's 2nd District for Former Gov. Paul LePage, Flipping a Democratic House Seat
The Associated Press declared at 1:32 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 12, that Republican former Maine Gov. Paul LePage won election to the U.S. House in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, defeating Democrat Matthew Dunlap, the state auditor, and flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican hands. The AP's latest count shows LePage with 170,265 votes, or 49.9 percent of all ballots cast, to Dunlap's 164,845 votes, or 48.3 percent, a margin of 5,420 votes, with about 97.8 percent of the vote counted.
No candidate won more than half of all ballots cast in the November 3 vote, so the race went to a ranked-choice tabulation under Maine law. The Maine Secretary of State's office announced first-choice results on November 5: LePage 170,263 votes, or 49.894 percent; Dunlap 164,845, or 48.307 percent; declared write-in candidates 123 votes; and 6,017 blank ballots, out of 341,248 ballots cast. Dunlap conceded on November 5. The ranked-choice tabulation began on November 9 at the Maine Department of Public Safety headquarters in Augusta, and the AP called the race for LePage on November 12.
The seat was open after Democratic Rep. Jared Golden announced his retirement following four terms. Maine's 2nd District covers much of the state's north and east and is the largest congressional district by area east of the Mississippi River. LePage, 78, served two terms as Maine's governor from 2011 to 2019 and will succeed Golden in the House; multiple outlets have noted that this is the only House seat Republicans flipped from Democrats in a district that was not redrawn in this midterm cycle. With this call, the AP has now called 424 House seats, with Republicans holding 169, and 11 seats remain uncalled. (Source: The Associated Press)
Related: Maine's 2nd District undecided; ranked-choice tabulation began Nov. 9
Source: The Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Paul LePage（摄影：Jason Savage，CC BY 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: Paul LePage (photo by Jason Savage, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
