One of Maine’s top lawmakers is facing pushback from fellow Republicans ahead of a primary that may hinge on voters’ perceptions of which candidate is Down East enough for the job.
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, announced Tuesday that he will run in the June primary for the seat currently held by the term-limited Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais. He has been publicly considering a run since the summer, but former Rep. Bucket Davis, R-East Machias, entered the race before Christmas.
Washington County has traditionally had its own senator despite sharing its Senate district with a portion of Hancock County, where Faulkingham lives. Despite his perch in Augusta, Washington County politicians are beginning to instead line up behind Davis in keeping with a history of angst about influence from the more populated county to the west.
“I just really strongly feel that we need someone from Washington County who understands what we’re faced with in Washington County,” Moore said.
Maine’s senators are recognized in the chamber by their county of residence in a holdover from the days when the state assigned two senators per county. If Faulkingham wins the primary in the ruby-red district, it would likely mean the name of Washington County would no longer be spoken in the state’s upper chamber. Davis noted that symbolism in an interview.
Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias, endorsed Davis “100 percent,” and said he didn’t believe Faulkingham was a viable candidate largely due to his county of residence.
“He’s got a different area. It’s a different culture,” Tuell said. “When you cross that county line and the further east and rural you get, it’s a different culture.”
The rural county stands out as the easternmost one in the U.S, as well as for being among the poorest areas in the northeast. It is a Republican-dominated area where high tax burdens and limited services can fuel resentment against the state government in Augusta, making the primary akin to a general election.
Faulkingham, a lobsterman who is also facing term limits in the House and announced his intent to run on Facebook this week, said he wasn’t concerned about the opposition from Washington, and that he was “as Down East as you’re going to find.”
“The people of Down East Maine know what they’re getting with me,” he said. “They’re getting a real, transparent Down East person, and they won’t find anybody to work harder for them than myself.”
Faulkingham will need to use political skill to overcome the geography of the race. Washington County dominates the district, providing 23,000 voters to less than 8,000 on the Hancock side, according to 2024 voter data. Washington also has more than 70 percent of the Republican voters in the district.
Davis, who left the Legislature after one term for health reasons in 2024, said he was a better option for the Senate due to his past bipartisan work in the Legislature and because he lives further east than his opponent.
“I served with Billy, and I like Billy. I have nothing against Billy at all. It’s just that … he lives in Hancock,” he said. “I’ve had people in my area approach me. They want a senator from their own county.”
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.