A national wave election led Democrats to expand their majorities in both chambers of the Maine Legislature on Tuesday, giving Gov.-elect Hannah Pingree a much firmer hold on the State House than Gov. Janet Mills had in her final two years.
Democrats said they won at least 87 seats in the 151-member House and 22 of 35 Senate seats as of early Wednesday. That is up from the 76 House seats and 20 Senate seats they won in 2024, when the lower chamber was decided by just 60 votes across three districts.
The result extends Democratic control of the Legislature into a ninth and 10th year and hands Pingree, a former House speaker, a large working majority as she confronts a two-year budget gap of more than $1 billion. Narrow margins in 2024 had empowered centrist members who swung some votes despite firm Democratic control of Augusta.
“Democrats see a future where we build upon the strengths of our state: our strong work ethic, our pristine environment, and most of all, neighbors who look after their neighbors,” House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, said. “That’s the message that resonated with Mainers.”
The losses left Republicans potentially further from power than they were when Mills was elected in 2018. Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, a former House minority leader, said the party has to reset and govern alongside Pingree and the Democrats.
“I think the reality is that you have to govern, and I don’t think you can just be the party of no,” Fredette said. “I don’t think being the party of no is going to help us rebuild.”
Democrats held or flipped seats along the swing belt between the rural, Republican-leaning north and the more Democratic south, where most of this year’s costliest races were fought. Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, easily won a rematch with Republican Leo Kenney after winning narrowly two years ago.
In the Senate, Democratic-aligned groups led outside spending in seven of the eight costliest races, many of them bids to flip Republican seats. Democrat Michael Scott beat Sen. Bruce Bickford, R-Auburn, in the state’s most expensive legislative race, and Democrat Patric Moore unseated Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Albion, who had long held his Waterville-area seat.
Two more Republican seats were within reach early Wednesday. Democrat Amanda Heath beat Republican Kati McCormick for an open Augusta-area seat, and Democrat Elizabeth Bosworth was poised to beat former Rep. John Andrews, R-Paris, for the seat Sen. Rick Bennett gave up to run for governor as an independent.
Republicans had focused their money on the House, outspending Democrats in nine of the 10 costliest races there. It largely did not pay off. Democrats won eight of those 10, including holds by Rep. Sally Cluchey, D-Bowdoinham, and Rep. Kilton Webb, D-Durham, two of their narrowest 2024 winners.
Democrats also ousted Reps. Quentin Chapman, R-Auburn, and Marygrace Cimino, R-Bridgton, and flipped Republican-held seats in Raymond and Fryeburg. The latter town showed them pushing deeper than before into red districts.
Both parties also backed independents in districts where their own candidates have struggled, with mixed results. Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, beat independent Stephen Carey, who was backed by the Senate Republican campaign arm, by more than 20 points. All five independents running for the Senate in districts without a Republican on the ballot lost to Democrats.
But in the Belgrade area, Rep. Sharon Frost, an independent who narrowly ousted a Republican incumbent in 2024, held her seat against Republican Dexter Bridges Jr. after getting help from Democratic-aligned groups.
It appeared that Democrats lost only one House seat they won in 2024. In a race between two former Lewiston city councilors, Republican Lee Clement beat Democrat Luke Jensen by just 38 votes. It followed a tumultuous period in Maine politics.
Outside groups spent more than $4.6 million on legislative races in the final two months of the campaign, according to Maine Ethics Commission filings. Most of that helped Democrats, although Republicans outspent them in the House.
Pingree has pledged to invest $100 million a year in housing, which a larger majority makes easier to pass. Her plan to let towns tax wealthy out-of-state second-home owners at higher rates is a heavier lift, since it would likely require a constitutional amendment needing two-thirds votes in both chambers.
Lawmakers will be sworn in next month, when they will elect a House speaker and Senate president. Pingree must send them a balanced budget proposal by early February.