(The Center Square) — Democratic Rep. Jared Golden narrowly edged out Republican state Rep. Austin Theriault in a ranked choice runoff for Maine’s closely watched 2nd Congressional District race, but it could be headed for a recount.
The preliminary results, which come more than a week after the Nov. 5 election, showed Golden with 50.3% of the vote to Theriault’s 49.6%, according to the tally by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office.
Following Tuesday’s election, Golden was ahead of Theriault by about 2,200 votes when he declared victory in a speech. Theriault refused to concede defeat, arguing that the margin between the two candidates was close enough to trigger a recount.
But a third write-in candidate received enough votes in the race to trigger the ranked choice runoff between the candidates.
Golden declared victory in a statement posted on social media, saying the retabulation result “reaffirms what we have known for more than a week: The people have chosen me to continue as their representative for another term in Congress. I am grateful for their confidence.”
“I am moving forward with my work in Congress, where I will continue to work with anyone — Democrats, Republicans and independents — to lower Mainers’ costs, protect our freedoms and our way of life, and ensure our safety and prosperity,” he added.
The race could still be headed for a hand recount, which Theriault had requested ahead of the ranked choice tabulation of the votes.
“With the race for Maine’s Second Congressional District remaining the closest federal race in modern Maine history following the allocation of ranked choice votes, we are renewing our call for a state-funded automatic recount of the results,” Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick said in a statement. “Every Mainer’s voice should be heard and their vote counted in this historically close race and we have seen several anomalies that can only be rectified with a full recount. We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we work to ensure every vote is counted.”
Under Maine’s election laws, recounts are not automatic and need to be requested by the campaigns. The campaign requesting the recount must also pay a fee to the state to cover the cost.
Golden said Theriault “is within his rights to force a third accounting of ballots with a taxpayer-funded recount, but the votes have been counted twice now and my lead has been in the thousands of votes both times.”
Golden, a Marine veteran, narrowly beat incumbent Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2018. The race was decided by ranked choice voting more than a week after the election. He has been reelected twice.
Theriault, a former NASCAR driver who ran with support from former President Donald Trump, has hammered away at Golden on the impact of high inflation on the economy and his support for outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s economic and immigration policies.