AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, won Maine’s 2nd Congressional District on Thursday, beating Democrat Matt Dunlap after a ranked-choice tabulation, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s office.
LePage, who declared victory last week, beat Dunlap, the state auditor, by nearly 5,500 votes, finishing with 50.8% of votes to 49.2%. Blank and write-in ballots had left LePage just short of a majority on Maine’s first ballot, requiring the ranked-choice count in Augusta.
His win flips the seat U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist Democrat, has held since 2019, in a district President Donald Trump carried three times. LePage will be the only Republican in Maine’s congressional delegation after a midterm in which Democrats ousted U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, kept the governor’s office and expanded their legislative majorities.
The count was never likely to change the outcome. Dunlap conceded a week ago, when LePage led by about 5,400 first-choice votes. LePage had a majority in the first round of the count, once ballots that ranked no one were set aside.
The only ballots left to move were the 1,243 cast for write-in candidates. Of those, 254 ranked Dunlap as their next choice and 180 ranked LePage. Most of the rest ranked no one else. Even if all of them had gone to Dunlap, he still would have lost by more than 4,200 votes.
LePage still ended up with a slightly bigger margin than he had on election night. The state’s count gave him a bigger first-round lead than the towns had reported, more than making up for Dunlap’s gain from the write-ins. The final margin is outside the threshold for a state-funded recount.
LePage has already started the job. He joined incoming members of Congress for orientation in Washington on Monday, where he pitched himself as a dealmaker after his party’s losses.
The count confirmed a result that was never in doubt, Brent Littlefield, a senior adviser to LePage, said in a Thursday statement. He said LePage has been meeting with national leaders and “making it clear the political parties need to work together for the American people.”