2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the two U.S. Representatives from the state of Maine, one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on June 14.

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine

November 8, 2016
All 2 Maine seats to the United States House of Representatives
Party Democratic Republican Last election 1 1 Seats won 1 1 Seat change Popular vote 386,627 357,447 Percentage 51.93% 48.01% Swing 0.40% 9.51%
Popular vote by congressional district. As this is a first-past-the-post election, seat totals are not determined by total popular vote in the state, but instead by results in each congressional district.

District 1

Declared

• Chellie Pingree, incumbent U.S. representative

Results

Democratic primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chellie Pingree (incumbent)	28,143	100.0
Total votes			28,143	100.0

Declared

• Mark Holbrook, professional counselor[2]
• Ande Smith, United States Navy veteran, attorney [3]

After a recount, Holbrook was declared the winner with a margin of 57 votes.[4]

Results

Republican primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Holbrook	10,360	50.1
	Republican	Ande Smith	10,303	49.9
Total votes			20,663	100.0

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chellie Pingree (D)	Mark Holbrook (R)	Other	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	September 15–20, 2016	266 LV	± 6.0%	64%	22%	2%	12%
SurveyUSA	September 4–10, 2016	382 LV	± 5.1%	57%	37%	–	7%
University of New Hampshire	June 15–21, 2016	248 LV	± 4.5%	56%	34%	–	10%

Endorsements

Chellie Pingree

• Equality Maine[5]

Results

Maine's 1st congressional district, 2016 [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chellie Pingree (incumbent)	227,546	58.0
	Republican	Mark Holbrook	164,569	41.9
	Libertarian	James J. Bouchard (write-in)	276	0.1
Total votes			392,391	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 2

Mike Michaud, the incumbent representative for the first district, did not run for reelection in 2014 so that he could run for Governor of Maine in the 2014 election. Republican Bruce Poliquin defeated Democrat Emily Cain in the 2014 election to succeed Michaud.[7]

After the election, Cain indicated she was interested in running against Poliquin in 2016.[8] In December 2014, Cain met with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, to discuss her potential candidacy.[9] On March 3, 2015, Cain announced that she would be running for the seat.[10]

Bangor City Councilors Joe Baldacci and Ben Sprague were mentioned as potential Democratic candidates.[11] Jeff McCabe, the Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives, indicated that he might run against Poliquin in 2016, but later said that he would not do so.[12]

Troy Jackson, the former Majority Leader of the Maine Senate, who lost to Cain in the 2014 Democratic primary election, had said he might run as an independent candidate,[7] but he elected to run for his former Senate seat instead.[13]

Declared

• Bruce Poliquin, incumbent U.S. representative

Results

Republican primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin (incumbent)	19,252	100.0
Total votes			19,252	100.0

Declared

• Emily Cain, former State Senator and nominee for the seat in 2014[10]

Withdrawn

• Joe Baldacci, Bangor City Councilor and brother of former Governor of Maine and U.S. Representative John Baldacci[14]

Declined

• Troy Jackson, Democratic National Committee member, former State Senator, candidate for the seat in 2014 (running for State Senate)[10][13]
• Jeff McCabe, Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives[12]
• Ben Sprague, Bangor City Councilor[10]

Endorsements

Emily Cain

• EMILY's List[15]
• George J. Mitchell, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader (D-ME)[16]
• Nancy Pelosi, Minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-CA)[17]
• Equality Maine[5]
• Bangor Daily News[18]
• MaineToday Media newspapers; Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel[19]

Results

Democratic primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Emily Cain	19,003	100.0
Total votes			19,003	100

Withdrawn

• Mike Turcotte, adjunct professor at Eastern Maine Community College[20]

Declined

• Troy Jackson, Democratic primary candidate for the seat in 2014 (running for State Senate)[7][13]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Emily Cain (D)	Bruce Poliquin (R)	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	October 20–25, 2016	341 LV	± 3.8%	43%	42%	11%
Normington Petts (D-Cain)	October 2–3, 2016	400 RV	± 4.9%	46%	45%	9%
University of New Hampshire	September 15–20, 2016	231 LV	± 6%	35%	45%	15%
SurveyUSA	September 4–10, 2016	397 LV	± 5%	45%	50%	6%
University of New Hampshire	June 15–21, 2016	227 LV	± 4.5%	40%	41%	12%

Results

Maine's 2nd congressional district, 2016 [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin (incumbent)	192,878	54.8
	Democratic	Emily Cain	159,081	45.2
	Independent	Jay Parker Dresser (write-in)	224	0.0
Total votes			352,183	100.0
	Republican hold

References

1. "Tabulations for Elections held on June 14, 2016". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
2. "Brunswick Republican files to challenge Pingree in 2016". Retrieved November 20, 2015.
3. "North Yarmouth attorney will try to unseat Maine's U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram". Pressherald.com. January 11, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
4. Shepherd, Michael (June 29, 2016). "Holbrook confirmed GOP primary winner in Maine's 1st District — Politics — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine". Bangordailynews.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
7. "What kind of a congressman will Maine's Bruce Poliquin be? - Central Maine". Central Maine. November 9, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
8. "Democrats push for Cain vs. Poliquin 2016 rematch in Maine's 2nd District - Central Maine". Central Maine. November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
9. "Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer Are Recruiting Emily Cain to Run Again". At the Races. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
10. Shepherd, Michael (March 3, 2015). "Cain seeks 2016 rematch for Maine's 2nd District seat". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
11. Michael Shepherd (January 11, 2015). "Maine's Bruce Poliquin dives into budget, energy issues". Central Maine. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
12. Michael Shepherd (February 4, 2015). "Skowhegan's McCabe says he won't run for Congress in 2016". Central Maine. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
13. Shepherd, Michael (January 4, 2016). "Democrats McCabe, Jackson announce Maine Senate bids". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
14. "Joe Baldacci Drops Out of Congressional Race | Maine Public Broadcasting". News.mpbn.net. February 5, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
15. Moretto, Mario (June 9, 2015). "Young Republican star wields Taylor Swift against Paul LePage". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
16. "Former Maine Senator endorses Emily Cain for Congress". WCSH. September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
17. Cousins, Christopher (June 10, 2015). "Nancy Pelosi to boost Emily Cain's rematch against Bruce Poliquin in big-money fundraiser". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
18. "Cain's pragmatism, openness would better serve Maine's 2nd District in Congress".
19. The Editorial Board (October 23, 2016). "Our View: Vote Emily Cain in 2nd District to make Congress work again".
20. Mitchell, Jennifer (May 14, 2016). "Candidate Proposing Nuke Plants for Maine Drops out of Congressional Race". MPBN. Retrieved June 26, 2016.

External links

• U.S. House elections in Maine, 2016 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org