Raye lead over Woodcock down to 321 votes

AUGUSTA – A 410-vote election night lead for Kevin Raye over Tim Woodcock shrank to 321 votes as the results from six counties in Maine’s 2nd congressional District Republican primary were recounted.

The recounting of ballots from Franklin, Oxford, Washington, Somerset and Piscataquis counties, as well as from the four 2nd District towns in Kennebec County, was concluded Wednesday and complete tallies were made available by state election officials.

Candidate counting teams, supervised and assisted by staff from the Maine secretary of state’s office, conducted the recount at tables set up in a garage behind the state police barracks in Augusta.

Counting was slated to continue Thursday, with a chance that the ballot checking could be finished by the end of the week.

Where recount tallies differed from election night totals, it was often by small amounts. Occasionally, changes accounted for more than a few votes.

Raye netted an additional four votes in the Piscataquis County recount, while Woodcock picked up an additional 24 votes.

In a recount of Dover-Foxcroft voting, Raye’s total increased from 96 to 104, while Woodcock’s total grew from 132 to 151.

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. Raye resides in Perry.

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.

The Republican nominee will face Democrat Michael Michaud in the November general election.

Michaud, the president pro tem of the Maine Senate, is from East Millinocket.