Biden, Trump win Maine primaries on Super Tuesday

There was little surprise in the outcomes of Maine’s presidential primary on Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump won the Republican primary and 20 delegates, while President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary.

The results were called just half an hour after polls closed at 8 p.m.

This was Maine’s first semi-open primary in which independent voters could choose to vote in either party’s primary. Nearly a third of Maine’s voters are independents.

Some Maine Republican voters expressed relief that their selection of Trump on the ballot would count, following a ruling Monday by the Supreme Court on a Colorado case.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled late last year that Trump’s name could not appear on Maine’s GOP primary ballot because she believed he engaged in insurrection during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

However, she stayed her ruling in anticipation of a legal challenge, so when voting began in Maine 30 days prior to Tuesday’s primary, Trump’s name appeared on ballots.

On Monday, within hours of the Supreme Court decision, she reversed course and announced that votes for Trump would be counted.

“I was going to write him in or do what I could to get him back on the ballot myself, so I’m super happy that he did get back on the ballot,” said Tracy Shaw of Portland.

Portland election officials said they saw a slower than usual primary day. Some voters said the steady cold rain throughout the day may have lowered turnout as well as a lack of enthusiasm for the top two presidential candidates.

“I’m feeling that there’s not a lot of enthusiasm for Biden right now too, I think there’s a lot more air play for the Republican side, too,” Portland Democrat Ray Saba, who voted for Biden, said. “But it just seems that in my opinion, the world is kind of on fire politically and I just wish that there would be some settlement on some key issues.”

GAZA PROTEST VOTES

The Maine Coalition for Palestine ran a campaign for Democrats to write “ceasefire” on their ballots to protest Biden’s support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza. 

The war began in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

“We want President Biden to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire,” Abby Full, a member of the coalition’s steering committee and chair of Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights, said. “We’re sending a message to him that if he doesn’t do that, then he cannot count on our vote in November.”

A similar campaign in the Michigan Democratic primary saw more than 100,000 votes of “uncommitted.”

Maine does not allow uncommitted votes, but instead has a space for write-ins. However, write-in ballots for unregistered candidates are officially counted as “blank,” so there is no way to know how many of those blanks were “ceasefire.”

The Maine Coalition for Palestine launched an online pledge to tally how many people voted “ceasefire.” As of Tuesday evening, Fuller said the pledge had 2,200 signatures.

Not all Democrats supported the campaign.

“I think people shoot themselves in the foot,” Democrat Laurie Goldstein of Portland said. “They’re welcome to do whatever they want, obviously, but that’s not going to really advance their particular agenda and it does compromise what we’re all trying to do here, which is elect a president.”

Even some ceasefire voters said in a likely contest between Trump and Biden, they had only one choice.

“Unfortunately, Biden,” said Portland voter Jay Stonerook.