AUGUSTA, Maine — A Republican state senator from Hancock County was confirmed as the winner in a Thursday recount over an incendiary lawmaker in the closest Maine legislative primary decided in July.
Sen. Kim Rosen of Bucksport won 50.6 percent of votes in a district covering Brewer, Bucksport and more than a dozen other towns in Penobscot and Hancock counties, beating fourth-term Rep. Larry Lockman of Bradley by only 52 votes in the heavily watched race.
Lockman said he would request the recount two days after the July 15 election when the race tightened due to late results from Greenfield Township that reduced Rosen’s winning margin by 19 votes. But the outcome was never really in doubt after Election Day and he only gained eight votes back in the Thursday recount, according to Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office.
The race was notable as one of three Maine Senate primaries in which former Gov. Paul LePage endorsed insurgent conservatives over candidates preferred by Senate Republicans. Sen. Paul Davis of Sangerville and former Sen. Brian Langley of Ellsworth won easily despite LePage’s opposition. LePage backed Lockman at a news conference last year.
Lockman made headlines in 2018 after accusing Democrats of a “war on whites.” He wondered why rape should be illegal if abortion is not and blamed the AIDS epidemic on liberals in letters to Maine newspapers from the 1980s and 1990s.
Rosen, who is running for her fourth and final consecutive term in the Senate, will face former Brewer Mayor Bev Uhlenhake, a Democrat, and independent Teresa Montague of Clifton in the November general election.