Politics of Maine

American state politics

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 Party 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.

## State and local politics

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Gubernatorial election results[2] Year  | Democratic | Republican

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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
United States presidential election results for Maine[3] Year  | Republican / Whig | Democratic | Third party(ies)

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No. | % | No. | % | No. | %
2024 | 377,977  | 45.46%  | 435,652  | 52.40% | 17,746  | 2.13%
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%
1832 | 27,331  | 43.97%  | 33,978  | 54.67% | 844  | 1.36%
1828 | 20,773  | 59.71% | 13,927  | 40.03%  | 89  | 0.26%
1824 | 10,289  | 81.50% | 0  | 0.00%  | 2,336  | 18.50%

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%

## Federal politics

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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.

In 2025, Maine also came under scrutiny from the Trump Administration due to its stance on transgender rights.[7][8][9]

Maine is the first state to have introduced ranked-choice voting in federal elections.[10]

* Party registration by Maine county (October 2022)

Democrat >= 30%

Democrat >= 40%

Republican >= 30%

Republican >= 40%

Unenrolled >= 30%

* Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election

## See also

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* As Maine goes, so goes the nation
* Libertarian Party of Maine
* Maine Democratic Party
* Maine Republican Party
* Maine Green Independent Party
* Political party strength in Maine

## References

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1. ^ a b "Control State Directory and Info". National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
2. ^ Leip, David. "General Election Results—Maine". United States Election Atlas. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
3. ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Maine". US Election Atlas. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
4. ^ "Maine Passes Gay Marriage in Historic 'Question 1' Vote". The Huffington Post. November 7, 2012.
5. ^ "Voter Registration Data, Election Data and Online Forms". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
6. ^ "Trump takes 1 of Maine's 4 electoral votes, in a first for the state". November 8, 2016.
7. ^ Schultz, Brooke (2025-03-07). "Does Title IX Exclude Trans Girls? A State's Defiance of Trump Could Produce an Answer". Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
8. ^ Ferguson, Callie; Rhoda, Erin (2025-03-05). "Trump administration finds Maine's transgender athlete rules violate Title IX". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
9. ^ Schapitl, Lexie (2025-02-21). "'See you in court': Trump and Maine's governor spar over trans athlete order". NPR. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
10. ^ Seely, Katharine Q. (3 December 2016). "Maine Adopts Ranked-Choice Voting. What Is It, and How Will It Work?". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 April 2017.

Authority control databases: National |

* United States
* Israel

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