This story was updated at 10:22 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
The polls are closed on Tuesday, as voters cast ballots for president, Congress, the Legislature and five ballot questions.
While much of the political oxygen is being consumed nationally by the presidential election, Maine's ballot features a host of races and initiatives with local and national implications.
Maine voters could help decide which party controls the U.S. House next year, not to mention whether Democrats retain majorities in the Maine State House. Additionally, the five ballot questions will settle a yearslong debate over the design of the state flag and could put Maine squarely in the center of a federal battle over campaign finance.
Maine could be on pace to set turnout records. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said despite a number of swatting calls made to Maine high schools earlier in the day, voting was steady and strong.
"Almost 62 percent of our voting-eligible population cast a ballot and over 73 percent of registered voters actually voted. So, we're looking for 75 percent of registered voters and maybe 65 percent of voting age-eligible people," she said.
Democrat Jared Golden is spending the evening watching returns with family and friends, but his campaign staff and supporters made a brief appearance for the media shortly after the polls closed.
Golden's senior advisor, Bobbie Reynolds, said Golden is proud of the campaign he has run, proud of the way he has represented the 2nd District for the past six years and grateful to the voters.
"They've had to listen to campaign ads ad nauseum, text messages being constantly sent to them. You can't go to YouTube without seeing something about the election. Now that is all over. It is in the hands of the voters and that's where it should be," he said.
Asked by a reporter why Golden rarely makes himself available to the press, Reynolds said the congressman has worked "tirelessly" for the people of the 2nd District and is not tied to any particular dogma or any particular president who may be in the White House.
The race between Golden and Republican Austin Theriault is the state's highest-profile contest after the presidential election. The 2nd District is one of only five across the country featuring a Democrat seeking reelection in a district that voted for former Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.
Republicans currently have a narrow, 8-person majority in the 435-seat House. With control of the chamber at stake, the national parties and their allies have already dumped more than $25 million into the CD2 race, according OpenSecrets.org, a campaign finance watchdog.
Polls suggest that the race is close. A University of New Hampshire survey released over the weekend, for example, showed Golden at 45%, Theriault at 44% and 11% of respondents still undecided.
Just after the polls closed, Maine Republican Party chairman Joel Stetkis told several dozen people gathered at Theriault's campaign watch party in Bangor that the GOP was about to have a "great night" in Maine and across the country.
"We doubled the numbers of early voters from Republicans from the last election, so (applause). . . everything is running, everything is working," he said.
The Demi Kouzounas campaign is awaiting results in Old Orchard Beach. Kouzounas is challenging Independent incumbent Angus King for the U.S. Senate.
The mood is upbeat for the former Maine GOP party chair and her supporters. She's made illegal immigration and the cost of living cornerstone issues for her campaign against King, and has questioned his age. If reelected, King would be the oldest senator in history serving in the state of Maine.
Kouzounas has also made a point during her campaign to break from her party on abortion. She's pro choice, she said, after surviving sexual assault in college and facing issues of pregnancy and infertility.
King supporters are watching returns in his hometown of Brunswick tonight.
The large crowd at Flight Deck Brewing is hoping to cheer the incumbent back for a third term. He's won his past two bids for Congress by double digits.
During his re-election campaign, King has touted his efforts to reduce Medicare drug prices and to increase access to broadband.
He’s said he’s running again because he has more work to do. His top priorities include housing, border security, and child care.
King faces three challengers Republican Demi Kouzounas, Democrat David Costello, and fellow Independent Jason Cherry.
Chellie Pingree is running for her ninth term in Maine's 1st District. She's at a watch party this evening in Portland and is expected to speak later Tuesday night.
Pingree is seeking reelection in what is widely considered a solidly blue district. She faces Republican Ronald Russell and independent Ethan Alcorn.
Attendees of the Maine Democratic Party's watch event are focused on the presidential race and have expressed a mix of hope and trepidation as early results come in across the country.
Earlier in the day, Roger Agnese, voting in Freeport, said the big ticket item for him is the presidential race, and he and his wife encouraged their young adult son to make time to vote after he gets out of work.
"We told him that every vote matters. And make sure that he and his friends — because I think that age group of people, there's a lot at stake now and for the future," he said.
Agnese, who said he's an independent, recently retired and hopes the outcome will allow him to stay in retirement.
Waterville voter Kelsey Gilbert said she voted for Kamala Harris, citing some of the important issues in this election.
"I think just, basic decency, No. 1, kind of having a sense, vision for the future is really important and investing in the middle class, in the lower class, helping people find opportunities," she said.
The race for the White House was also top of mind for 20-year-old Ashton Burgess, who cast his first ever presidential vote for Donald Trump.
"Just hoping to kind of put my insight a little bit into hopefully the next four years, its pretty important to get out and a lot of my friends didn't so I thought I would come out and try to at least help the little bit that I can," he said.
Burgess said there is no single issue that he cares most about in this election.
Other voters said they are focused on local issues. Jacob Bousquet of Freeport said that's where he thinks elections have the most impact.
"I think where we're going to see the most change is right here in our backyard. And I think that is where, when we see that change, we can see bigger change on a larger scale because we'll have a more unified idea moving forward," he said.
Freeport has an unusually competitive race for the sewer district, where eight people are vying for three seats. Residents are also voting on a municipal bond to purchase a vacant lot on Main Street.
Maine voters will fill all 186 seats in the state Legislature. Democrats currently have a 12-seat majority in the Maine House and a 13-seat majority in the Senate. But both parties are spending big to either preserve or flip that dynamic.
Maine voters will also decide five ballot questions.
Question 1 would cap contributions to so-called super PACs at $5,000. The initiative was spearheaded by a Massachusetts-based group that argues the current system of unlimited contributions to political action committees that make "independent expenditures" opens the door to illegal quid-pro-quo scenarios between deep-pocketed donors and groups and the politicians that they support. If Question 1 passes, it will likely be challenged in court as an unconstitutional challenge of free speech — in this case, campaign spending. The authors of the initiative hope to put the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Questions 2 through 4 are all bond measures: $25 million for research and development; $10 million to rehabilitate historic buildings; and $30 million for design, construction and maintenance of recreational trails.
Finally, Question 5 asks voters whether they want to replace the current state flag — featuring the state seal set against a deep-blue background — with the so-called Pine Tree flag featuring a green pine tree and a blue star against a buff-colored background. The latter is a variation on the design of the original state flag from 1901 to 1909.
State lawmakers debated the issue for several years but ultimately opted to let voters decide.
For more stories, videos, analysis and other explainers on this year's elections, go to Maine Public's Your Vote 2024 page.
