3 House races remain unresolved

AUGUSTA – The Maine Secretary of State’s Office wrapped up recounts for 15 legislative races Friday, leaving the apparent outcome unchanged in two House districts. Three other House races remain unresolved.

Incumbent Rep. Earl E. Richardson, R-Greenville, picked up a handful of votes Friday to maintain his election night victory over Sharon Libby Jones, D-Greenville, in a final tally of 2,649 to 2,561. Later in the afternoon, incumbent Rep. Arlan R. Jodrey, R-Bethel, emerged as the winner by 56 votes after his Democratic challenger, Timothy A. Carter, D-Bethel, conceded.

Only one House recount, in the Augusta area, resulted in a reversal of the apparent outcome, costing the Republican candidate her seat.

With recounts in the three House races still unresolved, the official political composition of the 151-member House of Representatives now stands at 75 Democrats, 71 Republicans, one Green Independent Party member and one member not enrolled in a political party.

Dan Billings, an attorney for the Republican Party, said Friday it was quite likely that the final three races could break down to two more seats for Republicans and one for the Democrats, leaving the House with an official division of 76-73-1-1.

The outcome in House District 12, which left Michael J. McAlevey, D-Waterboro, with a 13-vote advantage over Lawrence E. Jacobsen, R-Waterboro, could be ruled in favor of the Republican candidate, according to Billings. Democrats are confident they will prevail in House District 43 where Walter Ash Jr., D-Belfast, seems poised to defeat Jayne Crosby Giles, R-Belfast.

Billings said handfuls of ballots that were challenged by local registrars of voters in the respective districts would signal the outcome of the elections.

In the case of the third unresolved race, in House District 42, incumbent Rep. Jeffrey Kaelin, R-Winterport, appeared to have defeated Democrat Joseph Brooks by a handful of votes. Billings said 19 challenged ballots in that race will determine which candidate will prevail.

In the event that a recount is unable to resolve the outcome of a disputed race, the issue is referred to the House elections committee, which makes a recommendation to the full Maine House of Representatives.

Although a partisan majority can determine the outcome in favor of the ruling party, Billings said that in the three unresolved House races, politics is not likely to play a factor. He said it should be easy to determine whether the voters whose ballots have been challenged are legal voters within the district.

“Both sides have worked to resolve these disputes in good faith,” Billings said. “We’ll try to work it out Monday amongst the parties and if we can’t, we’ll do our best to narrow the issues before the races are sent to the House Committee for resolution.”

The Secretary of State’s Office will continue recounts Monday in county commissioners’ races in Washington and Somerset counties.