Maine 2010 Election Results

Ballot Measures, June 8, 2010

Maine voters decided 5 statewide ballot measures on June 8, 2010.

Ballot measures

General Election, November 2, 2010

Maine held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 186 legislative seats and the office of Governor. Control shifted: the Senate moved from a 20-15 Democratic majority to a 20-14 Republican majority; the House moved from a 95-55 Democratic majority to a 77-73 Republican majority.

Highlights

• Republicans won the governorship and both legislative chambers, taking full control of state government for the first time since the 1960s and winning their first majorities in both the House and Senate since 1974.
• Paul LePage (R), the Tea Party-backed Waterville mayor, won the open seat left by two-term Democratic Gov. John Baldacci with about 38% of the vote, edging Eliot Cutler (I) by fewer than 10,000 votes, under 2 points. Cutler surged late as support drained from Senate President Libby Mitchell (D), who finished a distant third with less than a fifth of the vote. Cutler declined to seek a recount.
• Three Democratic senators fell to Republican challengers: Lois Snowe-Mello (R) beat Sen. Deborah Simpson (D) in Senate District 15, Garrett Mason (R) beat Sen. John Nutting (D) in Senate District 17, and Nichi Farnham (R) beat Sen. Joseph Perry (D) in Senate District 32. The only Republican incumbent to lose, Sen. Gerald Davis (R), fell to independent Richard Woodbury (I) in Senate District 11. The new Legislature made Kevin Raye (R) Senate President and Rep. Robert Nutting (R) Speaker.
• In all, 38 legislative seats changed party, nearly all of them to Republicans. Democrats picked up only four House seats, and independents took one seat in each chamber. All but one of the 19 incumbents who lost were Democrats. Within two weeks of winning re-election, Rep. Michael Willette (D) of House District 5 switched to the Republican Party, widening the new House majority. Beyond the flips, 4 races finished inside two points. Sen. Lawrence Bliss (D) held Senate District 7 by 75 votes, and Ralph Chapman (D) won House District 37 by 35 votes, a margin that survived a recount.
• Voters approved all 3 statewide questions. Question 1, allowing a casino in Oxford County, passed by fewer than 5,000 votes; Question 2, a dental-care bond, and Question 3, a land-conservation and state-parks bond, also passed.

Legislature

• House (151 seats): 95 D, 55 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 72 D, 77 R, 2 other or vacant after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.
• Senate (35 seats): 20 D, 15 R before the election, 14 D, 20 R, 1 other or vacant after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures