2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine

Last updated

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine
Flag of Maine.svg
  2014 November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08) 2018  

All 2 Maine seats to the United States House of Representatives
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Party Democratic Republican
Last election11
Seats won11
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote386,627357,447
Percentage51.93%48.01%
SwingIncrease2.svg0.40%Increase2.svg9.51%

United States House of Representatives elections in Maine, 2016 results by district.svg
United States House of Representatives elections in Maine, 2016 results by county.svg

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the two U.S. representatives from the state of Maine, one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on June 14.

Contents

Overview

Statewide

Popular vote
Democratic
51.93%
Republican
48.01%
House seats
Democratic
50.00%
Republican
50.00%

By district

Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine by district:

District Democratic Republican OthersTotalResult
Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%
District 1 227,54657.99%164,56941.94%2760.07%392,391100.0%Democratic hold
District 2 159,08145.17%192,87854.77%2240.06%352,183100.0%Republican hold
Total386,62751.93%357,44748.01%5000.07%744,574100.0%

District 1

2016 Maine's 1st congressional district election
Flag of Maine.svg
  2014
2018  
  Chellie Pingree, official portrait, 114th Congress (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Chellie Pingree Mark Holbrook
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote227,546164,569
Percentage58.0%41.9%

U.S. Representative before election

Chellie Pingree
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Chellie Pingree
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+9.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Chellie Pingree (incumbent) 28,143 100.0
Total votes28,143 100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Mark Holbrook, professional counselor [2]
Eliminated in primary

Results

After a recount, Holbrook was declared the winner with a margin of 57 votes. [4]

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mark Holbrook 10,360 50.1
Republican Ande Smith10,30349.9
Total votes20,663 100.0

General election

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Chellie
Pingree (D)
Mark
Holbrook (R)
OtherUndecided
University of New Hampshire September 15–20, 2016266 LV± 6.0%64%22%2%12%
SurveyUSA September 4–10, 2016382 LV± 5.1%57%37%7%
University of New Hampshire June 15–21, 2016248 LV± 4.5%56%34%10%
Hypothetical polling
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Chellie
Pingree (D)
Ande
Smith (R)
University of New Hampshire June 15–21, 2016248 LV± 4.5%55%34%

Endorsements

Chellie Pingree (D)
Organizations

Results

Maine's 1st congressional district, 2016 [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Chellie Pingree (incumbent) 227,546 58.0
Republican Mark Holbrook164,56941.9
Libertarian James J. Bouchard (write-in)2760.1
Total votes392,391 100.0
Democratic hold

District 2

2016 Maine's 2nd congressional district election
Flag of Maine.svg
  2014
2018  
  Bruce Poliquin, official portrait, 114th Congress (cropped).jpeg 3x4.svg
Nominee Bruce Poliquin Emily Cain
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote192,878159,081
Percentage54.8%45.2%

U.S. Representative before election

Bruce Poliquin
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Bruce Poliquin
Republican

Incumbent Republican Bruce Poliquin, who had represented the district since 2015, ran for re-election. He was elected with 47% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+2.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bruce Poliquin (incumbent) 19,252 100.0
Total votes19,252 100.0

Democratic primary

After the 2014 election, Cain indicated she was interested in running against Poliquin in 2016. [7] In December 2014, Cain met with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, to discuss her potential candidacy. [8] On March 3, 2015, Cain announced that she would be running for the seat. [9]

Bangor City Councilors Joe Baldacci and Ben Sprague were mentioned as potential Democratic candidates. [10] Jeff McCabe, the Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives, indicated that he might run against Poliquin in 2016, but later said that he would not do so. [11]

Troy Jackson, the former Majority Leader of the Maine Senate, who lost to Cain in the 2014 Democratic primary election, had said he might run as an independent candidate, [12] but he elected to run for his former Senate seat instead. [13]

Candidates

Nominee
Withdrawn
Declined
Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Emily Cain 19,003 100.0
Total votes19,003 100

Independents

Withdrawn

Declined

General election

Debates

Endorsements

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Emily
Cain (D)
Bruce
Poliquin (R)
Undecided
University of New Hampshire October 20–25, 2016341 LV± 3.8%43%42%11%
Normington Petts (D-Cain) [ permanent dead link ]October 2–3, 2016400 RV± 4.9%46%45%9%
University of New Hampshire September 15–20, 2016231 LV± 6%35%45%15%
SurveyUSA September 4–10, 2016397 LV± 5%45%50%6%
University of New Hampshire June 15–21, 2016227 LV± 4.5%40%41%12%

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [21] TossupNovember 7, 2016
Daily Kos Elections [22] TossupNovember 7, 2016
Rothenberg [23] TossupNovember 3, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball [24] Lean D (flip)November 7, 2016
RCP [25] TossupOctober 31, 2016

Results

Maine's 2nd congressional district, 2016 [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bruce Poliquin (incumbent) 192,878 54.8
Democratic Emily Cain 159,08145.2
Independent Jay Parker Dresser (write-in)2240.0
Total votes352,183 100.0
Republican hold

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tabulations for Elections held on June 14, 2016". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. "Brunswick Republican files to challenge Pingree in 2016" . Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  3. "North Yarmouth attorney will try to unseat Maine's U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram". Pressherald.com. January 11, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  4. Shepherd, Michael (June 29, 2016). "Holbrook confirmed GOP primary winner in Maine's 1st District — Politics — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine". Bangordailynews.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Election 2016 | EqualityMaine". Archived from the original on October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
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  8. "Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer Are Recruiting Emily Cain to Run Again". At the Races. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
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  10. Michael Shepherd (January 11, 2015). "Maine's Bruce Poliquin dives into budget, energy issues". Central Maine. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Michael Shepherd (February 4, 2015). "Skowhegan's McCabe says he won't run for Congress in 2016". Central Maine. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
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  13. 1 2 3 Shepherd, Michael (January 4, 2016). "Democrats McCabe, Jackson announce Maine Senate bids". Bangor Daily News . Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  14. "Joe Baldacci Drops Out of Congressional Race | Maine Public Broadcasting". News.mpbn.net. February 5, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  15. Cousins, Christopher (June 10, 2015). "Nancy Pelosi to boost Emily Cain's rematch against Bruce Poliquin in big-money fundraiser". Bangor Daily News . Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  16. Moretto, Mario (June 9, 2015). "Young Republican star wields Taylor Swift against Paul LePage". Bangor Daily News . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  17. Mitchell, Jennifer (May 14, 2016). "Candidate Proposing Nuke Plants for Maine Drops out of Congressional Race". MPBN . Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  18. "Former Maine Senator endorses Emily Cain for Congress". WCSH. September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. "Cain's pragmatism, openness would better serve Maine's 2nd District in Congress".
  20. The Editorial Board (October 23, 2016). "Our View: Vote Emily Cain in 2nd District to make Congress work again".
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  22. "Daily Kos Elections House race ratings: Initial ratings for 2016". Daily Kos Elections . Retrieved November 7, 2016.
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