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.

Overview Statewide

By district Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine by district:

DistrictDemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResult Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %District 1 227,546 57.99% 164,569 41.94% 276 0.07% 392,391 100.0% Democratic holdDistrict 2 159,081 45.17% 192,878 54.77% 224 0.06% 352,183 100.0% Republican holdTotal 386,627 51.93% 357,447 48.01% 500 0.07% 744,574 100.0%

District 1

Incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+9.

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Chellie Pingree, incumbent U.S. representative

Results

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Mark Holbrook, professional counselor

Eliminated in primary Ande Smith, United States Navy veteran and attorney

Debate + 2016 Maine's 1st congressional district republican primary debate Date Host Moderator Link Republican RepublicanKey: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn Mark Holbrook Ande Smith1 Jun. 7, 2016 WMTW (TV) Paul MerrillYouTube

Results After a recount, Holbrook was declared the winner with a margin of 57 votes.

General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political ReportNovember 7, 2016Daily Kos ElectionsNovember 7, 2016 RothenbergNovember 3, 2016 Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 7, 2016RCPOctober 31, 2016

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror ChelliePingree (D) MarkHolbrook (R) Other UndecidedUniversity of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire September 15–20, 2016 266 LV ± 6.0% 64% 22% 2% 12%SurveyUSASurveyUSA September 4–10, 2016 382 LV ± 5.1% 57% 37% – 7%University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire June 15–21, 2016 248 LV ± 4.5% 56% 34% – 10%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror ChelliePingree (D) AndeSmith (R)University of New Hampshire June 15–21, 2016 248 LV ± 4.5% 55% 34%

Endorsements

Results

District 2

Incumbent Republican Bruce Poliquin, who had represented the district since 2015, ran for re-election. He was elected with 47% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+2.

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Bruce Poliquin, incumbent U.S. representative

Results

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

Bangor City Councilors Joe Baldacci and Ben Sprague were mentioned as potential Democratic candidates. 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.

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, but he elected to run for his former Senate seat instead.

Candidates Nominee Emily Cain, former state senator and nominee for this seat in 2014

Withdrawn Joe Baldacci, Bangor city councilor and brother of former Governor of Maine and U.S. Representative John Baldacci

Declined Troy Jackson, Democratic National Committee member, former state senator, candidate for the seat in 2014 (running for state senate) Jeff McCabe, majority leader of the Maine House of Representatives Ben Sprague, Bangor city councilor

Endorsements

Results

Independents Withdrawn Mike Turcotte, adjunct professor at Eastern Maine Community College

Declined Troy Jackson, Democratic National Committee member, former state senator, candidate for the seat in 2014 (running for state senate)

General election Debates Complete video of debate, October 19, 2016

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror EmilyCain (D) BrucePoliquin (R) UndecidedUniversity of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire October 20–25, 2016 341 LV ± 3.8% 43% 42% 11%Normington Petts (D-Cain)Normington Petts (D-Cain) October 2–3, 2016 400 RV ± 4.9% 46% 45% 9%University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire September 15–20, 2016 231 LV ± 6% 35% 45% 15%SurveyUSASurveyUSA 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%

Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political ReportNovember 7, 2016Daily Kos ElectionsNovember 7, 2016 RothenbergNovember 3, 2016 Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 7, 2016RCPOctober 31, 2016

Results

References

External links U.S. House elections in Maine, 2016 at Ballotpedia Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets