AUGUSTA — Official state election returns released Monday revealed H. Ross Perot edged out President George Bush to take second place, making Maine the only state where Perot outpolled the president. Gov. Bill Clinton’s first-place finish was affirmed.

Unofficial returns compiled on election night by news organizations showed Bush in second place statewide, by a margin of about 2,000 votes.

Those returns confirmed that Bush had suffered a resounding defeat in a state where he often spends his summer vacations at his Kennebunkport home. Perot’s 30-percent margin in Maine was unmatched in any other state.

Based on a strong showing in northern Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Perot narrowly edged ahead of Bush by just 316 votes in the final count.

“It appears to be the only state in the nation where Perot beat Bush or Clinton,” said Secretary of State G. William Diamond.

Stephen Bost, Perot’s coordinator in Maine, said he faxed a copy of the official returns to Perot on Monday afternoon. Bost said it may be the first time a third-party candidate has ever beaten one of the major-party candidates in any state.

“We’re tremendously pleased, but not all that surprised,” Bost said. “We knew we’d done our job in Maine. We anticipated coming in first or a very close second. This verifies information we were getting in the last few hours of the campaign.

“It’s not only testimony to Perot’s strong message, but it’s testimony to the tremendous effort of the volunteers throughout the state,” he said.

Perot did best in the 2nd Congressional District, where he came within 15,000 votes of defeating Clinton and winning an electoral vote. In that district, Perot beat Bush by more than 13,000 votes.

Diamond said 679,499 Mainers cast ballots, or 73.5 percent of eligible voters, the highest voter turnout in the nation and the highest in Maine’s history.

The official result of the presidential voting:

Bill Clinton won 263,420 votes or 38.7 percent.

Ross Perot had 206,820 votes or 30.4 percent.

George Bush had 206,504 votes or 30.3 percent.

Andre Marrou had 1,681 votes.

Lenora Fulani had 519 votes.

Howard Phillips had 464 votes.

Others got 91 votes.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Clinton won 118,229 votes; Perot, 103,992 votes; and Bush, 90,807 votes.

In the 1st Congressional District, Clinton received 145,191 votes; Bush, 115,697 votes; and Perot, 102,828.

The official results of congressional elections in the 2nd District were:

Rep. Olympia J. Snowe won with 153,022 votes or 49.1 percent.

Patrick K. McGowan had 130,824 votes or 42 percent.

Jonathan Carter had 27,526 votes or 8.8 percent.

Others had 61 votes.

In the 1st District, the results were:

Rep. Thomas H. Andrews won with 232,696 votes or 64.9 percent.

Linda Bean had 125,236 votes or 34.9 percent.

Others received 216 votes.