Democratic candidates for Maine governor Shenna Bellows and Hannah Pingree said the state should be prepared to change the way it awards presidential votes if their Republican-led counterpart makes the first move.
Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that split their Electoral College votes rather than awarding the whole state to a single candidate.
“Nebraska is talking about moving to a winner-take-all system because they know those votes at the state level would be red,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a video posted to X on Tuesday.
“We must fight fire with fire. If they’re going to manipulate the Electoral College, we need to be prepared to take action to change Maine’s system to go to winner-take-all,” she said.
Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination in five-way June 9 primary, reposted Bellows’ video with the message: “We’re on the same page, Shenna.”
Pingree and Bellows recently formed an alliance with former Maine Senate President and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, all of whom have said they ranked the others on their primary ballots. U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner has also endorsed the three, saying he ranked Jackson first among the group.
The Democratic field also includes former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah, who has led in most polls, and energy executive Angus King III.
Maine became the first state under a 1969 law to award one Electoral College vote to the winner of each of its two congressional districts. The statewide winner gets the other two. Nebraska followed in 1991 in a bid to gain more campaign attention from presidential candidates.
