The U.S. state of Maine, like many other states, is active in both state politics and national politics.
In state politics, Maine tends to have more moderate politicians, with the state having had two independent governors. It is also one of the U.S.'s 17 alcoholic beverage control states, meaning that the state's government exercises control over the sale of alcoholic beverages like wine and beer. [1] The state of Maine has also legalized same-sex marriage (first in 2009 before a rollback later that year, then again in 2012).
At the national level, Maine is generally a Democratic state, although its Senate seats are often held by Republicans. However, it used to be a Republican state entirely, before tilting towards the Democrats in the 1960s. The state of Maine is also noted for being one of the only two of the 50 states other than Nebraska that does not necessarily give all its electoral votes in the U.S. electoral college to the winner. Since 1969, two of the four votes go to the statewide winner, whereas the other two votes are based on the two electoral districts respectively. This resulted in Maine splitting its electoral vote for the first time in the 2016 presidential election.
Year | Democratic | Republican |
---|---|---|
1954 | 54.5%135,673 | 45.5% 113,298 |
1956 | 59.2%180,254 | 40.8% 124,395 |
1958 | 52.0%145,673 | 48.0% 134,572 |
1962 | 49.9% 146,121 | 50.1%146,604 |
1966 | 53.1%172,036 | 46.9% 151,802 |
1970 | 50.1%163,138 | 49.9% 162,248 |
1974 | 36.8% 132,219 | 23.5% 84,176 |
1978 | 47.8%176,493 | 34.4% 126,862 |
1982 | 61.9%281,066 | 38.1% 172,949 |
1986 | 30.2% 128,744 | 39.9%170,312 |
1990 | 44.1% 230,038 | 46.7%243,766 |
1994 | 33.8% 172,951 | 23.1% 117,990 |
1998 | 12.0% 50,506 | 18.9% 79,716 |
2002 | 47.2%238,179 | 41.5% 209,496 |
2006 | 38.1%209,927 | 30.2% 166,425 |
2010 | 18.8% 109,387 | 37.6%218,065 |
2014 | 43.4% 265,125 | 48.2%294,533 |
2018 | 50.9%320,962 | 43.2% 272,311 |
2022 | 55.7%376,934 | 42.4% 287,304 |
Year | Republican / Whig | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2024 | 377,837 | 45.47% | 435,351 | 52.39% | 17,801 | 2.14% |
2020 | 360,770 | 44.03% | 435,072 | 53.09% | 23,619 | 2.88% |
2016 | 335,593 | 44.87% | 357,735 | 47.83% | 54,599 | 7.30% |
2012 | 292,276 | 40.98% | 401,306 | 56.27% | 19,598 | 2.75% |
2008 | 295,273 | 40.38% | 421,923 | 57.71% | 13,967 | 1.91% |
2004 | 330,201 | 44.58% | 396,842 | 53.57% | 13,709 | 1.85% |
2000 | 286,616 | 43.97% | 319,951 | 49.09% | 45,250 | 6.94% |
1996 | 186,378 | 30.76% | 312,788 | 51.62% | 106,731 | 17.62% |
1992 | 206,504 | 30.39% | 263,420 | 38.77% | 209,575 | 30.84% |
1988 | 307,131 | 55.34% | 243,569 | 43.88% | 4,335 | 0.78% |
1984 | 336,500 | 60.83% | 214,515 | 38.78% | 2,129 | 0.38% |
1980 | 238,522 | 45.61% | 220,974 | 42.25% | 63,515 | 12.14% |
1976 | 236,320 | 48.91% | 232,279 | 48.07% | 14,609 | 3.02% |
1972 | 256,458 | 61.46% | 160,584 | 38.48% | 229 | 0.05% |
1968 | 169,254 | 43.07% | 217,312 | 55.30% | 6,370 | 1.62% |
1964 | 118,701 | 31.14% | 262,264 | 68.80% | 256 | 0.07% |
1960 | 240,608 | 57.05% | 181,159 | 42.95% | 6 | 0.00% |
1956 | 249,238 | 70.87% | 102,468 | 29.13% | 0 | 0.00% |
1952 | 232,353 | 66.05% | 118,806 | 33.77% | 627 | 0.18% |
1948 | 150,234 | 56.74% | 111,916 | 42.27% | 2,639 | 1.00% |
1944 | 155,434 | 52.44% | 140,631 | 47.45% | 335 | 0.11% |
1940 | 163,951 | 51.10% | 156,478 | 48.77% | 411 | 0.13% |
1936 | 168,823 | 55.49% | 126,333 | 41.52% | 9,084 | 2.99% |
1932 | 166,631 | 55.83% | 128,907 | 43.19% | 2,906 | 0.97% |
1928 | 179,923 | 68.63% | 81,179 | 30.96% | 1,069 | 0.41% |
1924 | 138,440 | 72.03% | 41,964 | 21.83% | 11,788 | 6.13% |
1920 | 136,355 | 68.92% | 58,961 | 29.80% | 2,524 | 1.28% |
1916 | 69,508 | 50.99% | 64,033 | 46.97% | 2,773 | 2.03% |
1912 | 26,545 | 20.48% | 51,113 | 39.43% | 51,982 | 40.10% |
1908 | 66,987 | 63.00% | 35,403 | 33.29% | 3,946 | 3.71% |
1904 | 65,432 | 67.44% | 27,642 | 28.49% | 3,949 | 4.07% |
1900 | 65,412 | 61.89% | 36,822 | 34.84% | 3,459 | 3.27% |
1896 | 80,403 | 67.90% | 34,587 | 29.21% | 3,429 | 2.90% |
1892 | 62,936 | 54.05% | 48,049 | 41.26% | 5,466 | 4.69% |
1888 | 73,730 | 57.49% | 50,472 | 39.35% | 4,051 | 3.16% |
1884 | 72,217 | 55.34% | 52,153 | 39.97% | 6,121 | 4.69% |
1880 | 74,052 | 51.46% | 65,211 | 45.32% | 4,640 | 3.22% |
1876 | 66,300 | 56.64% | 49,917 | 42.65% | 828 | 0.71% |
1872 | 61,426 | 67.86% | 29,097 | 32.14% | 0 | 0.00% |
1868 | 70,502 | 62.41% | 42,460 | 37.59% | 0 | 0.00% |
1864 | 67,805 | 59.07% | 46,992 | 40.93% | 0 | 0.00% |
1860 | 62,811 | 62.24% | 29,693 | 29.42% | 8,414 | 8.34% |
1856 | 67,279 | 61.34% | 39,140 | 35.68% | 3,270 | 2.98% |
1852 | 32,543 | 39.60% | 41,609 | 50.63% | 8,030 | 9.77% |
1848 | 35,273 | 40.25% | 40,195 | 45.87% | 12,157 | 13.87% |
1844 | 34,378 | 40.48% | 45,719 | 53.83% | 4,836 | 5.69% |
1840 | 46,612 | 50.23% | 46,190 | 49.77% | 0 | 0.00% |
1836 | 14,803 | 38.21% | 22,825 | 58.92% | 1,112 | 2.87% |
In state general elections, Maine voters tend to accept independent and third-party candidates more frequently than most states. Maine has had two independent governors: James B. Longley (1975–1979) and Angus King (1995–2003), who currently serves in the US Senate. Maine state politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, are noted for having more moderate views than many in the national wings of their respective parties.
Maine is an alcoholic beverage control state. [1]
On May 6, 2009, Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage; however, the law was repealed by voters on November 3, 2009. On November 6, 2012, Maine, along with Maryland and Washington, became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage at the ballot box. [4]
Party registration as of October 2022 [5] | ||
---|---|---|
Party | Total voters | Percentage |
Democratic | 339,103 | 37.48% |
Republican | 272,003 | 30.06% |
Unenrolled | 257,565 | 28.47% |
Green | 35,061 | 3.88% |
Libertarian | 942 | 0.10% |
Total | 904,674 | 100.00% |
In the 1930s, Maine was one of very few states which retained Republican sentiments. In the 1936 presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt received the electoral votes of every state other than Maine and Vermont; these were the only two states in the nation that never voted for Roosevelt in any of his presidential campaigns, though Maine was closely fought in 1940 and 1944. In the 1960s, Maine began to lean toward the Democrats, especially in presidential elections. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey became just the second Democrat in half a century to carry Maine, perhaps because of the presence of his running mate, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie, although the state voted Republican in every presidential election in the 1970s and 1980s.
Since 1969, two of Maine's four electoral votes have been awarded based on the winner of the statewide election; the other two go to the highest vote-getter in each of the state's two congressional districts. Every other state except Nebraska gives all its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state at large, without regard to performance within districts. Maine split its electoral vote for the first time in 2016, with Donald Trump's strong showing in the more rural central and northern Maine allowing him to capture one of the state's four votes in the Electoral College. [6]
Ross Perot achieved a great deal of success in Maine in the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. In 1992, as an independent candidate, Perot came in second to Democrat Bill Clinton, despite the long-time presence of the Bush family summer home in Kennebunkport. In 1996, as the nominee of the Reform Party, Perot did better in Maine than in any other state.
Maine has voted for Democratic Bill Clinton twice, Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump won one of Maine's electoral votes with Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton winning the other three. Although Democrats have mostly carried the state in presidential elections in recent years, Republicans have largely maintained their control of the state's U.S. Senate seats, with Edmund Muskie, William Hathaway and George J. Mitchell being the only Maine Democrats serving in the U.S. Senate in the past fifty years.
In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans made major gains in Maine. They captured the governor's office as well as majorities in both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since the early 1970s. However, in the 2012 elections Democrats managed to recapture both houses of Maine Legislature.
Maine's U.S. senators are Republican Susan Collins and Independent Angus King. The governor is Democrat Janet Mills. The state's two members of the United States House of Representatives are Democrats Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden.
Maine is the first state to have introduced ranked-choice voting in federal elections. [7]
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton and his running mate, incumbent Democratic Vice President Al Gore were re-elected to a second and final term, defeating the Republican ticket of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp and the Reform ticket of businessman Ross Perot and economist Pat Choate.
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1992. Democratic governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican president George H. W. Bush and independent businessman Ross Perot of Texas. The election marked the beginning of a period of Democratic dominance and the end of a period of Republican dominance in American presidential politics that began in 1968, and also marked the end of 12 years of Republican rule of the White House.
Third party, or minor party, is a term used in the United States' two-party system for political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties. The winner take all system for presidential elections and the single-seat plurality voting system for Congressional elections have over time helped establish the two-party system. Third parties are most often encountered in presidential nominations and while third-party candidates rarely win elections, they can have an effect on them through vote splitting and other impacts.
The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa.
The politics of Vermont encompass the acts of the elected legislative bodies of the US state, the actions of its governors, as overseen by the Vermont courts, and the acts of the political parties that vie for elective power within the state. The state's politics include local Democratic and Republican political parties, as well as several smaller parties.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that instead of all of the state's four electors of the Electoral College to vote based upon the statewide results of the voters, two of the individual electors vote based on their congressional district because Maine has two congressional districts. The other two electors vote based upon the statewide results. See below in the section of Electors for more information.
The 2012 United States elections took place on November 6, 2012. Democratic President Barack Obama won reelection to a second term and the Democrats gained seats in both chambers of Congress, retaining control of the Senate even though the Republican Party retained control of the House of Representatives. As of 2024, this is the most recent election cycle in which neither the presidency nor a chamber of Congress changed partisan control, and the last time that the party that won the presidency simultaneously gained seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 1996 United States elections were held on November 5, 1996. Democratic President Bill Clinton won re-election, while the Republicans maintained their majorities in both houses of the United States Congress.
The 1992 United States elections elected state governors, the president of the United States, and members of the 103rd United States Congress. The election took place after the Soviet Union crumbled and the Cold War ended, as well as the redistricting that resulted from the 1990 census. Often considered "The Year Of The Woman," these elections brought an increased number of female politicians to Washington such as Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL). Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent president George H. W. Bush and businessman Ross Perot in the presidential election. The Democratic Party maintained their control of both chambers of Congress. This is the first Democratic trifecta since the Republican victory in the 1980 elections, the last one in the 20th century, and the last one overall until 2008.
The 1996 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that chooses two of its four representatives in the Electoral College based on the plurality vote in both its congressional districts instead of all four electors being chosen based on the statewide plurality vote.
The 1992 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 3, 1992, and was part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1992 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1992 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 32 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1992 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1988 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004, and would not do so again until 2024.
The 2016 United States presidential election in Colorado 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. Colorado voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Colorado has nine electoral votes in the Electoral College.
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 2016 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election which was also held in the other 49 states and in the District of Columbia. Voters were asked to pick 6 electors to be pledged for a candidate in the Electoral College. The two main tickets of the election were the Republican one, consisting of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and the Democratic one, consisting of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.
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.