Tight race in Maine a no show: All 4 electoral votes go to Kerry

All of the talk about the possibility of Maine splitting its electoral votes didn’t amount to anything: In the end, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry had a solid win in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

What was supposed to be an extremely tight race between Kerry and President Bush in northern Maine ended up not being so close, surprising both Republicans and Democrats alike.

The strong turnout favored Kerry, especially with efforts by groups like MoveOn.org working to get out the vote on Kerry’s behalf, Maine Republican Party Executive Director Dwayne Bickford said Wednesday.

Pocketbook issues also favored Kerry because residents were concerned about the loss of manufacturing jobs and seniors having to go to Canada for low-cost drugs, said Kerry spokesman Jesse Derris.

It also didn’t hurt that Waterville and Winslow joined the 2nd District during redistricting. Kerry beat Bush 3,356 to 1,803 in Waterville and 2,492 to 1,799 in Winslow, according to unofficial returns.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Kerry was winning with 52 percent of the vote, compared to Bush’s 46 percent, in the 2nd District, according to unofficial election returns as compiled by the Bangor Daily News.

In the 1st District, Kerry’s margin was larger, with 55 percent of the vote compared to 43 percent.

Kerry won everywhere in the state except in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties, where Bush had a slight lead.

Tony Corrado, a political science professor at Colby College, said the end result shows the payoff for the Kerry campaign, which sent vice presidential candidate John Edwards and numerous stand-ins to the 2nd District.

Another factor in Kerry’s favor was the effort to boost voter turnout on college campuses, Corrado said. In Orono, for example, Bush lost by 1,195 to Al Gore four years ago; he lost by 2,073 votes to Kerry.

Maine is one of only two states that divide electoral votes. Under state law, Maine awards two electoral votes to the statewide winner and one apiece to the winner in each of its congressional districts.

The state has not split its electoral votes since adopting that system in 1969. And that record remained unbroken this week.