Overview
- A final ranked‑choice tabulation run by the Maine Secretary of State on Thursday certified Paul LePage with about 50.8% of the vote to Matt Dunlap’s roughly 49.2%, a margin of roughly 5,500 votes that falls outside the state-funded recount threshold.
- Officials livestreamed the multi‑day RCV process after blank ballots and a declared write-in kept no candidate above 50% on the first count, and the tabulation involved eliminating lower‑ranked ballots and reallocating second choices until a majority remained.
- Matt Dunlap conceded the race last week and the RCV finish did not change the outcome; LePage has been in Washington attending new‑member orientation while the secretary of state completed certification.
- LePage will replace retiring Democrat Jared Golden, flipping the open seat to Republican control and creating the sole GOP House member from a New England state in the incoming Congress.
- LePage is a two‑term former governor who has criticized ranked‑choice voting in the past, and the confirmed result ends the procedural review while raising questions about how his combative style and priorities will affect rural CD2 communities and congressional dynamics.