Eleven legislative races in Maine will be told

Nine races in the Maine House and two races in the Senate are headed for recounts. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced this on Wednesday evening.

There are no mandatory recounts in Maine, but candidates can request one in statewide races with a margin of 1.5% or less between the two candidates. If the margin is higher, candidates must pay a deposit with their application, which they will get back if the results are in their favor.

“In the event of a recount, each candidate’s representatives and Department of State staff manually review each paper ballot to determine the official vote count,” the secretary’s office said in an emailed statement. “The ballots have been or will be collected by members of the Department of State’s Enforcement Services Division and delivered to the recount location, where they will be stored in a secure area.”

The recounts begin Friday and will continue through Nov. 25 in the Florian Room at 45 Commerce Dr. in Augusta. The procedure is public.

MAINEHOUSE DISTRICT 141

The race between Republican Rep. Lucas Lanigan and Democrat Patricia Kidder for the seat in House District 141, which represents Shapleigh, Newfield, Sanford and Springvale, will be recounted on Nov. 21 after the race resulted in a tie.

Lanigan was charged with domestic violence and aggravated assault just days before the election. He is accused of abusing his wife last month after finding him with another woman in a Springvale Safe Storage unit, according to court documents. According to the arrest warrant, he grabbed his wife’s neck and choked her for about 20 seconds before she could leave and call her friends for help.

Sanford Police issued an order and searched a weekend before Lanigan turned himself in at the York County Jail on Oct. 28. Are woman pleaded with the judge and prosecutors to drop the case, but prosecutors said it is common for victims to recant and that they would pursue charges.

Democratic lawmakers called on Lanigan to withdraw from the race, but he stayed in finished level with his opponent — 2,476 to 2,476. Both candidates had the right to call for a recount, and if the recount shows they are still tied, the state will hold a special election.

OTHER LEGISLATIVE RACES IN MAINE

The first scheduled recount, which will take place Friday, will take place in House District 96 in Lewiston, where Michael Lajoie has a 36-vote lead over Kerryl Clement.

Other recounts include the House District 98 race between Guy Lebida and Kilton Webb in the Topsham area and House District 81 in the Bethel area, where Joan Beal and Peter Wood are separated by 0.34%.

The recount in the House District 58 race between Sharon Frost and Daniel Newman will take place on November 19, as will the House District 75 recount for candidates Stephan Bunker and Randall Gauvin.

A recount has also been requested in the House District 52 race between Sally Cluchey and David Guilmette, who were vying to represent Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Richmond and Perkins Island Township. The official results show Cluchey with 2,748 votes and Guilmette with 2,732.

The recount for House District 44, which includes Hope, Union and Warren, will take place on November 20. In that race, William Pluecker leads Ray Thombs by 362 votes, a difference of 7.1%. That is the largest difference in votes between candidates in any parliamentary election scheduled for recounts.

A second recount involving Sanford candidates is scheduled for Nov. 21. In that race, House District 142 representative Anne-Marie Mastraccio is ahead of Amy Bell by 64 votes.

The recounts conclude with the races for Senate District 8 in northern Penobscot County and Senate District 15 in the Augusta area. In Senate District 8, there is a 0.58% vote difference between Michael Tipping and Leo Kenney. Richard Bradstreet and Raegan LaRochelle have a 0.93% separation in Senate District 15.

THE 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MAINE

The hotly contested and duration The U.S. House of Representatives race between incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden and Republican challenger Austin Theriault has entered a runoff. Golden led with 2,159 votes, but with neither candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote, a runoff began Tuesday afternoon. Officials expect it to be completed Thursday or Friday.

Theriault’s campaign had requested a recount before Bellows announced the runoff. A recount cannot be formally requested until the recount has been completed.

However, Theriault’s campaign manager Shawn Roderick told the Press Herald on Tuesday that if the race remains as close as it was after the runoff and Theriault is not declared the winner, the campaign will explore a recount request.

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