Recount leaves Senate 17-17-1

AUGUSTA – A lone independent has acquired unprecedented power and the Maine Senate will remain equally divided between Republicans and Democrats as the result of a ballot recount Thursday.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Susan Longley of Liberty actually increased her margin of victory in Senate District 11 to 113 votes over Republican challenger John Ford of Brooks. On Wednesday, the only other recount in the Senate affirmed a win by Democrat Betheda Edmonds of Freeport over Republican David Snow of Yarmouth in District 23.

The division of political power in the Senate remains at 17 Democrats, 17 Republicans and one independent member, Sen. Jill Goldthwait of Bar Harbor. The vote now sets the stage for some spirited negotiations with Goldthwait over who she might endorse as the next Senate president.

Goldthwait could side with Republican leader Sen. Rick Bennett of Norway or cast her vote for one of three Democrats seeking the nomination of that caucus. She could also present herself as an independent Senate president candidate for the 35-member body.

Thanking Ford for his strong showing in the District 11 race, Bennett said the Maine Senate must now consider its options. Committee assignments, committee chairmanships, space allocation, staffing, the positions of Secretary of the Senate and assistant Secretary of the Senate could all be up for discussion under a power-sharing agreement. Such an agreement would have the effect of diminishing the formerly powerful role of president that has traditionally been based on majority party representation.

“We’re going to have to learn to work together,” Bennett said. “I think we’re up to the task, we’re all adults over there. We’ve already had discussions with the Democrats and I think we can be a model to show that a legislative body can be bipartisan or even a nonpartisan institution while expressing different philosophies and political views.”

Longley entered Thursday’s recount with an unofficial 63-vote lead over Ford, a former Waldo County sheriff, who carried 17 of the district’s 27 towns. Although Longley did capture most of the county’s larger towns, Ford carried the smaller communities. The unofficial tally after the election gave Longley 9,846 votes to Ford’s 9,783.

The official final vote in District 11 after the recount now favors Longley 9,928 to 9,815. One of the biggest surprises for Longley came from the town of Palermo where she picked up 28 votes to push her past the centennial mark for a margin of victory.

“Ending with over 100 votes was a real surprise, which I had earlier thought would be nice before reminding myself not to be too greedy,” she said.

Both candidates shook hands after the final count was announced, describing the campaign within the district as clean and fair.

“I wish Susan the very best,” said Ford. “We were friends before this started and we’ll be friends afterward.”

Ford thought the Knox County town of Appleton’s vote signaled the difference between victory and defeat for his campaign. As the only town in the district that is not a part of Waldo County, Ford lacked the familiarity with voters there that he enjoyed in the rest of the area and lost the town to Longley, 431-254. Throughout most of the early morning hours after the polls closed last week, Ford was actually leading Longley until the results from Winterport – the last town in the district to report – came in.

“Then when Winterport came in we picked up a 63-vote deficit and that’s where we started from today,” said Ford, who would not rule out a future run for the Senate. “It’s been a learning experience for me, I was very pleased with the support that I had.”

Both Ford and Longley ran as Clean Election candidates, spending about $19,000 each for their races. The availability of the election funds made all the difference in the campaign for Ford.

“I wouldn’t have been here if it hadn’t been for the Clean Election money,” he said. “I think it’s been a wonderful program. Although they could cut down some of the paperwork. It takes two Philadelphia lawyers and a Boston judge to figure how to fill out the papers. They ought to be able to simplify that.”