AUGUSTA – Maine election officials made plans Thursday to bring ballots from 390 municipalities to Augusta for a recount of voting in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.

“We’re working with the state police right now to start picking up ballots,” Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn said.

Unofficial returns from Tuesday’s election compiled by the Bangor Daily News gave Kevin Raye of Perry a 417-vote lead over Tim Woodcock of Bangor. Woodcock requested a recount Wednesday and it is expected to begin by the middle of next week.

Maine Republican Party Executive Director Dwayne Bickford said Thursday that a recount could resolve any question surrounding the outcome of the primary squeaker without triggering animosity between the two camps.

“I think all the candidates are going to be working together” once a winner is formally declared, Bickford said.

Unofficial tabulations from Tuesday’s election had Raye with 11,864 votes, or 30.8 percent, to Woodcock’s 11,447 votes, or 29.7 percent.

Raye worked for the better part of two decades as a staff aide to Republican Olympia Snowe, who is now Maine’s senior U.S. senator.

Woodcock, a lawyer, is a former Bangor mayor who served as an aide to Republican Bill Cohen when he was in the U.S. Senate.

Trailing the top pair were state Rep. Stavros Mendros of Lewiston with 21 percent and former state Rep. Dick Campbell of Orrington with 19 percent.

Under Maine law, a request for a recount by a second-place finisher in an election routinely triggers one, according to Flynn. A candidate making such a request may be required to put up a deposit of as much as $1,000, but no deposit is required if the differential under review is less than 2 percent, she said.

“This should not have a negative effect on Republican unity,” Woodcock campaign manager Scott Cuddy said Thursday.

Cuddy said a recount would be only fair to campaign volunteers and voters throughout the district.

The Raye campaign voiced no objection.

“Given the closeness of it, we can understand where Tim’s coming from,” said Raye spokeswoman Kathie Summers.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Peter Cianchette, who defeated Jim Libby for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, called Woodcock’s recount request “reasonable” during a campaign stop at the State House on Thursday.

“I hope there’s a resolution to it as soon as possible so we can all move forward,” said Cianchette. He told 35 or 40 people at a State House rally that he was challenging other Blaine House candidates to join in campaign debates in all 16 Maine counties. Cianchette issued the same challenge at a rally in Bangor later in the day.

Flynn said election officials hope to have 2nd District ballots in hand by the end of the week.

“That will begin in earnest tomorrow morning,” said Maine Public Safety Department spokesman Stephen McCausland.

Seven years ago, election officials undertook an even more expansive recount stemming from a statewide referendum on seat belts, officials said. But that recount ended before it was completed when those who made the request withdrew it.

While Republicans were facing the pending post-election ballot review Thursday, Democratic Party officials issued a unity statement touting the November prospects of 2nd Congressional District Democratic nominee Michael Michaud, the state Senate president pro tem from East Millinocket who won a six-way contest Tuesday.

“We were extremely fortunate during the primary campaigns to have a diverse pool of candidates able to discuss the issues that matter to voters … I’m confident that we can now go forward together to keep John Baldacci’s seat in Democratic hands,” said Democratic Party Chairwoman Gwethalyn Phillips.

Baldacci, the four-term 2nd District congressman from Bangor, is this year’s Democratic nominee for governor.

Also in the gubernatorial race are Green Independent candidate Jonathan Carter and independents David Flanagan and John Michael.

Michaud edged state Sen. Susan Longley of Liberty for his victory in the Democratic primary.

Unofficial returns gave Michaud 12,150 votes, or 31.1 percent, to Longley’s 10,663 votes, or 27 percent.

Filling out the rest of the Democratic field were former state legislator Sean Faircloth of Bangor, who won 20.2 percent of the vote; state Sen. John Nutting of Leeds, who took 12.6 percent; former foreign aide worker David Costello of Lewiston, who had 4.5 percent; and educator Lori Handrahan of Sorrento, who received 4.2 percent.

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