Maine candidates fish, fret and spin results during a ranked-choice voting lull

Politics
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Sitting in third place in the tight Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson has gone off the grid, fishing and spending time with family in Aroostook County for a long weekend with little to no phone service.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, currently fourth but still with a shot to become the Democratic nominee, posted a Wednesday photo with her husband at an Augusta brewery. Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree headed home with family in North Haven Wednesday after her primary party in Portland the night before.

“Now it’s just a matter of patience,” Pingree spokesperson Mary-Erin Casale said.

After a primary night without closure, several candidates aiming to replace Gov. Janet Mills are playing the waiting game, spinning the results and trying to relax at home with families after barnstorming the state for months, watching late results trickle in or readying to keep close watch of Augusta’s ranked-choice counting starting Friday.

The next phase of the primary marks a lull that could take about a week following an increasingly bitter season on both sides of the aisle. Law enforcement officers are delivering results from towns across Maine to Augusta, where election officials on Friday will begin tabulating both parties’ gubernatorial primaries and the tight Democratic battle for the 2nd Congressional District. The state hopes to wrap up before next Friday.

The wait has given way to calls for party unity by the Republican and Democratic frontrunners, lawyer Bobby Charles and former Maine public health chief Nirav Shah, respectively. It also opened a door for the only independent on the ballot in November, state Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford. With stops in Waterville and Bangor, the former Republican launched a statewide tour Thursday focused on affordability, Maine’s economy and restoring trust in government.

Keeping in style with his aggressive year-long campaign, Charles has been active on social media since racking up just over 37% of first-round votes on Tuesday. But he said he wanted to “take an unusual moment” to thank his supporters and those who voted for his opponents in a Facebook video Thursday morning. He also said he’d reach out to every candidate, several of whom traded blows with him over policy and tactics for months.

“At the end of the day, we hang together or we hang separately,” Charles, who attended a Thursday fundraiser for state Rep. Ken Fredette’s political committee in Newport, said. “This is one team, one fight to save Maine.”

Shah on Wednesday afternoon thanked his opponents, including former energy executive Angus King III, saying “our party is stronger” because of the group’s dedication to Maine.

Bellows, Jackson and Pingree formed a ranked-choice alliance backed by U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner. All expressed confidence about their individual performance. It remains to be seen who picks up most of King’s lower-ranked votes. The son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King got just over 8% of votes.

Christine Kirby, Jackson’s spokesperson, noted the Allagash logger won both Portland and Bangor on Tuesday, a strong performance in a race “largely overshadowed by the U.S. Senate race and dominated by legacy names and high profile figures.”

Casale said at first glance it’s odd to be excited about second place. But given the dynamics of ranked-choice voting and recent polling showing Pingree rising “at a critical time in the race,” it means “we are in a good position,” she said. Bellows’ team highlighted a Bangor Daily News simulation showing her as a narrow favorite due to strong second-choice support.

On the Republican side, fitness executive Ben Midgley and entrepreneur Jonathan Bush trail Charles after picking up 20.2% and 20% support, respectively. Bush had recently polled in second place, while Midgley has been anywhere from 2% to 10% in recent surveys.

“No campaign outperformed the polls the way Ben Midgley did,” Brent Littlefield, his strategist, said.

Bush and former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason and their allies spent almost $8.5 million combined in ads. Midgley’s team booked only about $264,000 according to AdImpact, and he loaned his campaign $750,000. Charles spent less than all of them at just over $240,000 on advertising.

Mason, who received about 11% of the vote, said the results marked “the end of my final statewide campaign” in a Thursday post on X thanking supporters, family and staff. He encouraged voters to back U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Republicans in the Legislature but did not mention his rivals.

Charles noted on social media that his campaign has “witnesses, lawyers and tough voter integrity experts working with us” during the ranked-choice count. One of his posts Thursday included images of Shah and Jackson alongside Mills, claiming they amounted to “more of the same.” Bennett’s face was lumped in with the Democrats.

“I’m sure I’m in his [and Democrats’] minds,” Bennett said in an interview between conversations with voters and volunteers at Geaghan’s Pub in Bangor on Thursday. “I’m sure they have numbers that show there’s a good chance I will be Maine’s next governor … because what they’re serving up is just more finger-pointing, no problem solving.”