BANGOR – The race for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District was too close to call early Wednesday morning, with Kevin Raye of Perry, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, and former Bangor Mayor Tim Woodcock within 1 percentage point of each other.

With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Raye had 30.7 percent, or 10,977 votes, to Woodcock’s 30.1 percent, or 10,739 votes.

State Rep. Stavros Mendros of Lewiston, who fared well in early returns, faded to 20.4 percent of the vote, with former state Rep. Dick Campbell of Orrington, the party’s 2000 nominee, stalling at 18.8 percent.

Raye, who traveled from his native Perry to Bangor on Tuesday, was optimistic as he greeted voters outside Bangor High School.

Shortly after midnight, his aides were still pleased with the albeit slim lead.

“We’re encouraged by the numbers coming in,” said Raye spokeswoman Kathie Summers. “But obviously it’s too close to call.”

More than 12 hours earlier, before the first round of results hit the airwaves, Woodcock greeted voters in the hallway of the 14th Street School in Bangor, where he and his wife cast their ballots with little fanfare.

Just as nearly every seasoned campaign watcher in the state expected a close vote, so did Woodcock’s even more ardent backers at the Bangor polls, where he easily prevailed based on late returns.

“We need every one, don’t we?” one matronly supporter asked after fixing Woodcock’s askew shirt collar and heading into the elementary school, where a slow but steady stream of voters filtered into the gymnasium.

“You bet,” said the candidate, nodding his head and shaking the hand of another voter on his way into the west side polling station.

Before the polls closed, the former aide to U.S. Sen. William Cohen was also quietly confident in the four-way primary.

The winner will face the Democratic nominee to claim the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, a Bangor Democrat running for governor.

The choice was easy for Woodcock’s daughter, Katie, who turned 18 in December and cast her first ever ballot Tuesday for her father, aides said.

Emerging from the gym, she confessed to being less than totally informed on the bond issues, but was confident she’d get another chance in the voting booth.

“I’ll do better in November,” she smiled.

All of the GOP candidates were greeting voters at polling places around the sprawling district Tuesday.

Pundits have anticipated a tight race between the Cohen and Snowe proteges, each of whom stressed their Washington experience during the largely cordial campaign.

National and state party officials, careful to stay neutral in the close race, said Tuesday that whoever ended up the nominee, the party was likely to reclaim the seat it held for more than two decades before Baldacci won the post after a close primary race of his own in 1994.

“We are very confident in our field of candidates, and we will take that seat back again,” said Kathy Watson, chairwoman of the state’s Republican Party.

Republican pollster Christian Potholm on Tuesday evening called the GOP race too close to call between Raye and Woodcock and lauded all the candidates for concentrating on the issues and traveling the vast district – the largest east of the Mississippi River.

“I think they’ve waged very good campaigns on a local level, going to a lot of meetings, caucuses and debates,” said Potholm, a political science professor at Bowdoin College. “They’ve worked a good ground game.”

On Tuesday, the four GOP candidates continued their ground game, canvassing polling places throughout the district.

At midafternoon, Woodcock, Mendros and Campbell positioned themselves outside the Brewer Auditorium, one of the larger precincts in the state because all of the city’s registered voters cast their ballots there.

With the fate of the U.S. House of Representatives in the balance, a strong Republican nominee was crucial, said Potholm, Cohen’s campaign manager in his first run for office in 1972.

“There’s no question [the Republican Party is] looking at this as a key race,” Potholm said.

In Maine’s 1st Congressional District, third-term Democratic incumbent Tom Allen had no primary opposition. Also unopposed in his primary was Republican challenger Steven Joyce, a former state representative from Biddeford.