Maine
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In Maine, the most closely watched race was the battle to replace Senator Olympia J. Snowe, a moderate Republican who jolted the political world this year when she announced she would not seek a fourth term.
Former Gov. Angus King, an independent, won the Senate seat being vacated by Ms. Snowe. Mr. King was considered the front-runner for that seat. He was a formidable fund-raiser who had the support of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s new “super PAC,” Independence USA PAC. Mr. King’s opponents in the race were the Democratic nominee, State Senator Cynthia Dill, and Charlie Summers, a Republican who is the Maine secretary of state.
Mr. King injected an additional note of uncertainty into the race, one that could well have national implications, by refusing to say whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans in the Senate if elected.
Chellie Pingree, a Democratic House member, won a third term to represent Maine’s First Congressional District, defeating Jon Courtney, a Republican businessman. Ms. Pingree, 57, the first Democratic woman to represent Maine in the House, once served as the president of Common Cause, a liberal lobbying group that focuses on campaign finance and ethics.
Mike Michaud, a Democratic five-term incumbent, won in the Second District, beating Kevin Raye, the Republican president of the Maine Senate.
Maine voters also gave the gay-rights movement a major victory when they approved a ballot initiative to legalize same-sex marriage. Fifty-three percent voted to approve. The Legislature passed a law making such unions legal in 2009, but it was repealed at the ballot box that fall.
This was not the first time gay marriage has been on the ballot in the state. The Legislature passed a law making such unions legal in 2009; it was signed by the governor, John Baldacci, and then struck down that fall at the ballot box, losing 53 percent to 47 percent. (Similar measures are also on the ballot in three other states this Election Day. In Washington and Maryland, voters will uphold or reject gay marriage laws that have been passed by their state governments, while in Minnesota, voters decided whether to define marriage as between one man and one woman.)
This is, however, the first time gay marriage has been on the ballot in Maine in quite this way. Voters in Maine were asked to decide whether to legalize gay marriage, as opposed to deciding whether to strike down an act of their Legislature, which legalized it, or to amend the State Constitution to ban the practice.
According to an exit poll that Edison Research conducted for The Associated Press and several television networks, four out of five Maine voters surveyed said the state of the American economy was not so good or poor, and about two-thirds said the economy was staying the same or getting worse.
President
98% reporting
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Candidate | Party | Votes | Pct. | Change from ‘08 | Electoral Votes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dem. | 397,754 | 56.0% | -1.7% | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mitt Romney
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Rep. | 290,437 | 40.9% | +0.5% | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gary Johnson
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Lib. | 13,446 | 1.9% | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jill Stein
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Green | 9,101 | 1.3% | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
President Map | President Big Board | Exit Polls |
Senate
97% reporting
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Candidate | Party | Votes | Pct. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ind. | 368,130 | 52.8% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charlie Summers
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Rep. | 213,644 | 30.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cynthia Dill
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Dem. | 91,694 | 13.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Woods
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Ind. | 10,297 | 1.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danny Dalton
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Ind. | 6,510 | 0.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andrew Ian Dodge
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Ind. | 6,313 | 0.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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House of Representatives
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District | Democrat | Republican | Other | Reporting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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35.3%Courtney
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100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 |
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41.9%Raye
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97% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Incumbent House Map | House Big Board | Exit Polls |
Major Ballot Initiatives
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Measure | Yes | No | Reporting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Should state issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples? |
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47.3%
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98% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 Issue $11 million bond for public colleges and universities? |
49.1%
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50.9%
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96% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 Issue $5 million bond for conservation land purchases and easements? |
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39.2%
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96% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 Issue $51 million bond for transportation projects, primarily roads and bridges? |
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27.7%
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96% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 Issue $8 million bond for drinking-water and wastewater treatment systems? |
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36.8%
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96% |