AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — As Republicans dig in from the bottom a landslide halfwaythey can point to a single bright spot on the national congressional map. It’s Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, the only seat that flipped from blue to red without the help of electoral redistricting.
It was far from a resounding victory. Even though President Donald Trump won the district by 9 points two years ago, it took a former Republican governor, Paul LePage, to eke out a victory over Matt Dunlap, the Democratic auditor.
The Associated Press called the race Thursday after officials completed the ranked-choice voting process to determine the winner.
LePage and Dunlap were competing to replace Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat who is retiring from Congress.
The only other seats that flipped from blue to red were Texas’ 32nd Congressional District and Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, but both of those flips were made possible by redistricting efforts it made voters much more conservative.
Meanwhile, Democrats have lost 44 seats and a handful of races have yet to be called.
Dunlap conceded last week and LePage declared victory, and he was in Washington to orient the new members.
“Paul LePage is already working hard for the people of Maine,” said Brent Littlefield, a LePage spokesman.
Maine has only two congressional districts. The first is heavily Democratic and includes Portland and wealthy coastal cities. The second includes a few small towns and large rural and forested areas and is home to industries such as logging, potato farming and lobster fishing. It’s more conservative than most areas of New England.
Golden had found success in the 2nd campaign by presenting himself as a moderate Democrat ready to break with his party. However, he announced last year that he would not seek a fifth term, saying he was “fed up with the increasing incivility and blatant nastiness that is now commonplace from certain elements of our American community.”
As governor from 2010 to 2018, most of LePage’s two terms preceded Trump’s presidency, but he aligned himself with the president toward the end of his term. The two men shared a brand of brash, conservative populism, with LePage once declaring that he was “Donald Trump before Donald Trump was popular.”
However, LePage also criticized Trump’s tariffs on Canadaa key trading partner of Maine, and has expressed support for legal immigration. When he declared victory last week, LePage pledged to make the state’s interests a priority in Washington.
“If it’s good for Maine, I’ll work hard to make it happen. If it’s bad for Maine, I’ll oppose it,” he said.
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