With more than a full year before the next election, Democrats are already targeting Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s Second Congressional District.
His opponent in the last election, Emily Cain, announced her intent to run to unseat Poliquin just weeks after failing in her original bid against him. And now, this bit of news from a BDN media partner, MPBN:
“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running radio ads in the Bangor and Augusta markets criticizing Poliquin’s position on the import-export bank re-authorization.”
Traditionally, a candidate for Congress is most vulnerable in his or her first re-election, and Democrats obviously see an opportunity to reclaim the seat.
How likely is that? Well, not very, if history is any indication.
It’s been nearly a full century since any candidate, Republican or Democratic, was unseated in a re-election bid for Maine’s 2nd CD. That would be Democrat Daniel J. McGillicuddy, who served for four terms before being unseated in 1916.
Expanding the scope to statewide races in Maine, the picture isn’t much rosier. Governors have been reliably re-elected since 1966, when Republican John H. Reed was defeated by Democrat Kenneth M. Curtis.
In Senate races, Democrat William Hathaway was defeated by Republican Bill Cohen in 1978 after just one term as senator. Republican Frederick G. Payne was defeated in 1958 by Democrat Ed Muskie, also after just one term.
In the First Congressional District, conservative James Longley Jr. (son of James Longley the governor) was soundly defeated in 1996 by Democrat Tom Allen after just one term in the reliably Democratic district.
Interesting sidebar: Reed served nearly a full eight years as governor, starting in December of 1959. He was the fourth governor to serve in 1959, after Muskie, who resigned to take his seat in the U.S. Senate; Robert Haskell, who as Maine Senate president served for a whopping five days as interim until the elected governor was sworn in; and Clinton Clauson, who died after 11 months in office. He was allowed to run for a third term because he succeeded Clauson by virtue of being Senate president at the time, and the Maine Constitution only limits governors to “two consecutive popular elective 4-year terms of office.”
Second Congressional District history
(Images and some data via Wikipedia)
| Name | Served | Reason for Leaving Office | |
| Bruce Poliquin | 2015-?? | ||
| Mike Michaud | 2003-2015 | Voluntary, retired to run for governor (Unsuccessful) | |
| John Baldacci | 1995-2003 | Voluntary, retired to run for governor (Successful) | |
| Olympia Snowe | 1979-1995 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Successful) | |
| William Cohen | 1973-1979 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Successful) | |
| William Hathaway | 1965-1973 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Successful) | |
| Clifford McIntire | 1963-1965 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Unsuccessful) | |
| Stanley R. Tupper | 1961-1963 | Redistricted to First District, further served from 1973-1967 | |
| Frank M. Coffin | 1957-1961 | Voluntary, retired to run for governor (Unsuccessful) | |
| Charles P. Nelson | 1949-1957 | Voluntary, retired to be a teacher at University of Florida | |
| Margaret Chase Smith | 1940-1949 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Successful) | |
| Clyde H. Smith | 1937-1940 | Died in office | |
| Edward C. Moran, Jr. | 1933-1937 | Voluntary, did not run for re-election | |
| Donald B. Partridge | 1931-1933 | Voluntary, did not run for re-election | |
| Wallace H. White, Jr. | 1917-1931 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Successful) | |
| Daniel J. McGillicuddy | 1911-1917 | Defeated in re-election bid |
Governor History
| Name | Served | Reason for Leaving Office |
| Paul LePage | 2011-Current | |
| John Baldacci | 2003-2011 | Term Limits |
| Angus King | 1995-2003 | Term Limits |
| John R. McKernan, Jr. | 1987-1995 | Term Limits |
| Joseph E. Brennan | 1979-1987 | Term Limits |
| James B. Longley | 1975-1979 | Promised to only serve one term, did not seek re-election |
| Kenneth M. Curtis | 1967-1975 | Term Limits |
| John H. Reed | 1959-1967 | Defeated in re-election bid |
Senate History
| Name | Served | Reason for Leaving Office |
| Angus King | 2013-?? | |
| Susan Collins | 1997-?? | |
| Olympia Snowe | 1995-2013 | Retired |
| George J. Mitchell | 1980-1995 | Retired |
| William Cohen | 1979-1997 | Retired |
| William Hathaway | 1972-1979 | Defeated in re-election bid |
| Edmund Muskie | 1959-1980 | Resigned to serve as Secretary of State |
| Frederick G. Payne | 1953-1959 | Defeated in re-election bid |
First Congressional District History
| Name | Served | Reason for Leaving Office |
| Chellie Pingree | 2009-?? | |
| Thomas H. Allen | 1997-2009 | Voluntary, retired to run for U.S. Senate (Unsuccessful) |
| James B. Longley, Jr. | 1995-1997 | Defeated in re-election bid |
This video is from Poliquin’s election night headquarters:
[bdnvideo id=”1820519″]