Vote from the right

Mark Finks said he was pleased with the 6,565 votes he received in Maine’s gubernatorial race. But the emotion that Republicans should be feeling is relief — relief that the Finks campaign has disproved the idea that his coalition is integral to future party success.

This is important because the GOP candidate, Susan Collins, was hampered by the Finks faction throughout the gubernatorial race, first by a frivolous lawsuit that questioned her state residency and then by assurances from the right wing in her party that she couldn’t win without them. Many moderate Republicans in southern Maine, Mr. Finks’ base, bought into that fear. The GOP candidate finished third in every county south of Knox, but, farther away from the Finks base, won in Aroostook, Washington, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Hancock counties.

In contrast to the votes tallied by Mr. Finks, Green Party candidate Jonathan Carter, who had about the same campaign budget of $25,000, gathered more than 33,000 votes. Of course it helped him enormously to have his name on the ballot rather than relying on a write-in candidacy, but the difference runs deeper than that.

The Carter campaign offered a positive vision of Maine, something to support. The Finks campaign was formed because the Christian wing of the Republican Party didn’t get the candidate it wanted in the GOP primary. It was a campaign of negativism.

Despite all the publicity about his campaign, the votes for Mr. Finks equaled just 1.3 percent of the total. Though every vote is important in a close race, the GOP learned just how small the Finks coalition was. The campaign is claiming that many more voters attempted to write in its candidate and that may be, but unless the recount is egregiously wrong, the results speak loudly: The Christian Right in the Republican Party is not nearly as strong as expected or feared.

Republicans were the popular choice nationwide this year, and Maine has been partial to candidates running outside the confines of a party — witness the state’s new governor, Angus King. A Republican running on his own would be expected to register strongly with voters; 1.3 percent of the vote is not an overwhelming endorsement. And that’s good news for the GOP.