BANGOR – Howard Dean found himself the bridesmaid again Sunday as Maine Democrats turned out in large numbers and supported the race’s undisputed front-runner, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Dean, a former Vermont governor and the race’s former favorite, had hoped a Maine win could help revive his campaign, which floundered in recent weeks as Kerry won 10 of the past 12 presidential primary contests.

With 50 percent of municipalities reporting, it was Kerry, fresh off convincing wins in Michigan and Washington the day before, who walked away with 45 percent of the vote.

Based on those returns, Dean again placed second with 26 percent, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio was running third with 15 percent.

Maine will send 35 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Based on Sunday’s results, 24 will be- awarded at the state convention in May. Eleven are considered “superdelegates,” who include party leaders and top officeholders.

Kerry, who visited the state Thursday, spent much of Sunday campaigning in Virginia, which along with Tennessee will hold primaries Tuesday.

Kerry hopes wins in those states could cause two more rivals, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, to reassess their candidacies should they lose in their Southern back yard.

Based on the early Maine returns, Edwards had 9 percent of the vote, and Clark had 4 percent. The Rev. Al Sharpton received less than 1 percent.

For Dean, the second-place finish here marked yet another setback in his campaign, which has pinned virtually all its fading hopes on next week’s primary in Wisconsin, where early polls have him far behind Kerry.

Back in Maine, Dean, trailed by an entourage of national media earlier in the day, made a last pitch to voters Sunday, stopping at several of the state’s larger caucuses.

“We need a doer in the White House, not a talker,” Dean told about 100 supporters who endured bitterly cold temperatures and gusting winds at Bangor’s Bass Park to catch a glimpse of the presidential hopeful before the city’s caucus convened.

But Dean’s brief address in Bangor didn’t generate the same excitement as a more impassioned speech he delivered here in August, when the buzz surrounding his campaign earned him spots on the covers of Time and Newsweek.

At Sunday’s Dean rally, David Weeda of Bucksport held a small wooden sign reading “Anyone But George Bush,” just below his blue Dean for President placard.

“I’m so committed to anybody but Bush, I’d be happy with any of the candidates,” Weeda, 44, later explained, qualifying his support for Dean and echoing the sentiments of many at Sunday’s Democratic caucus.

Electability has become a key issue among Democrats, and in Maine Kerry appears to have the solid backing of the party’s elite, including Gov. John Baldacci, who endorsed the senator last week.

While Dean ran a distant second in Maine, it was Kucinich who was poised to make his best showing thus far in a presidential primary.

Kucinich, who on Sunday made his sixth visit to the state – the most of any candidate – addressed the more than 600 people who showed up to the Bangor caucus.

“Maine has always shown an appreciation for those who take a singular path and the courage to stand behind it,” said Kucinich, who has vowed to take his long-shot candidacy all the way to July’s Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Bangor’s results nearly mirrored the state’s. Kerry won 45 percent of vote, Dean 24 percent, Kucinich 20 percent, Clark 5 percent and Edwards 3 percent. Sharpton, who had only a handful of supporters in the city, had less than 1 percent.

Kucinich also appeared to fare well along Maine’s more liberal coastline.

In Rockland, Kucinich garnered 35 votes to Dean’s 34. Kerry got 28 votes, Edwards, 19 votes; Clark, 10 votes; and Sharpton, five votes.

Anne Beebe-Center, a Knox County commissioner and Democratic Party member, promoted Kucinich, saying she was “struck by the consistency of his message” and his ability to look at the larger picture.

Following an initial vote for candidates, a Dean supporter defected to the Sharpton camp, giving Kucinich the edge in the second round of voting.

“Someone from this group just went to Sharpton, so hold your ranks,” Dean supporter Paul Chartrand, a former state representative for Rockland, said.

In Presque Isle, Kerry won an overwhelming victory with 40 residents backing the candidate. Edwards trailed in second place with 11 supporters.

On Mount Desert Island, Sunday’s turnout was much larger than expected. The last time there was an islandwide Democratic caucus, according to caucus organizers, only 30 people attended.

Bar Harbor, the preliminary results of which indicated that Kucinich was challenging Dean for the most local votes, had 165 registered Democrats participating in Sunday’s event.

NEWS reporters Leanne M. Robicheau, Bill Trotter and Rachel Rice contributed to this report.