Libertarian Party of Maine | |
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Chair | Jim Baines [1] |
Founded | 1972 |
Headquarters | PO Box 13, Bangor, ME 04402-0013 |
Ideology | Libertarianism |
National affiliation | Libertarian Party (United States) |
Colors | Gold-yellow |
Seats in the US Senate | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the US House | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the Maine Senate | 0 / 35 |
Seats in the Maine House | 0 / 151 |
Nonvoting Seats in the Maine House | 0 / 3 |
Other elected officials | 2 (June 2024) [update] [2] |
Website | |
www.lpme.org | |
The Libertarian Party of Maine (LPME) is the Maine affiliate of the Libertarian Party.
The LPME was granted status as an affiliate of the Libertarian party in 1975 and ran its first candidate for elective office in municipal elections in Portland, Maine in 1979. The LPME has had a repeating cycle of activity and hiatus since its founding. It has been active since the 2012 election cycle, with a fully constituted State committee, securing the placement of 2012 Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson onto the Maine general election ballot for the 2012 election and the endorsement of Andrew Ian Dodge the United States Senate election in Maine, 2012.
In 2015, the LPME sought to become a ballot-qualified political party by registering 5,000 or more voters into the party by December of that year. The party submitted over 6,400 registration forms to the Secretary of State. However, approximately 2,000 were found to be invalid. [3] The party sued and, in May 2016, a judge in U.S. District Court allowed the Libertarian Party to register more voters into the party to obtain the 5,000 registrant minimum needed to receive a spot on the 2016 ballot for their presidential nominee. [4] It was announced that they met the threshold on July 13, 2016, allowing Presidential candidate Gary Johnson to appear on the ballot. To maintain their status, they needed 10,000 registered Libertarians to vote in November 2016. [5]
In November 2016, Libertarian Party (United States) Presidential candidate Gary Johnson received at least 5% of the state presidential votes.[ citation needed ] This gave the LPME official party status in the state of Maine, becoming the fourth recognized party by the state.
On 8 September 2017, Androscoggin County commissioner Zakk Maher became the LPME's first elected official when he defected from the Maine Republican Party. [6]
After the 2018 election, the LPME lost party status as it did not receive 10,000 cumulative votes of registered Libertarians. [7]
On December 11, 2020, the party's declaration of intent to form a recognized party was recognized by the State of Maine. [8] To become a qualifying party and participate in primary elections, the party must have 5,000 registered voters by January 2, 2022. In order to maintain this status, the party must have 10,000 registered voters cast ballots in the November 2022 state election.
On December 14, 2020, Maine State Representative, John Andrews of House District 73, announced his intent to leave the Republican party and enroll as a Libertarian, becoming Maine's first Libertarian state legislator, [9] although he rejoined the GOP in 2022 and will run for re-election as a Republican. [10]
The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy; grassroots democracy; anti-war; anti-racism. As of 2023, it is the fourth-largest political party in the United States by voter registration, behind the Libertarian Party.
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The 2016 United States presidential election in Maine was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Maine voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Maine has four electoral votes in the Electoral College. Unlike all other states except Nebraska, Maine awards two electoral votes based on the statewide vote, and one vote for each congressional district. The last time it did so was in 1828.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Maine, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. This was Maine's first election for its Class 2 seat to use its ranked choice voting system. Because the first round of the general election saw a majority the instant runoff tabulation of more than 800,000 ballots was not carried out.
The 2020 United States presidential election in Maine was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Maine voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Maine has four electoral votes in the Electoral College. Unlike all other states except Nebraska, Maine awards two electoral votes based on the statewide vote, and one vote for each congressional district.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine were held on November 3, 2020, 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 2020 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 election was conducted with ranked choice voting, as per the result of a referendum passed in 2016.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine were held on November 8, 2022, 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 other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The elections were conducted with ranked choice voting, as per the result of a referendum passed in 2016. These were the first House of Representatives elections held in Maine following the 2020 redistricting cycle.
John Andrews is an American politician who served as a Representative in the Maine House of Representatives from 2018 to 2024. He was first elected as a Republican to the 73rd district, but became a Libertarian in 2020 due to his dissatisfaction with the house committee assignments given to him. Andrews rejoined the Republican Party in 2022. Due to redistricting, he ran as a Republican in 2022 for Maine House district 79 and was re-elected.