Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Maine Congressional Seats

October 29, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional team

Maine's Congressional Elections in 2012
U.S. Senate Election?	U.S. House seats	Possible competitive races?
Yes	2	1 (Senate)

AUGUSTA: Maine: Maine has two U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat on the ballot in 2012. Both U.S. House incumbents are running for re-election and face at least one challenger in the general election. The U.S. Senate seat is open with the impending retirement of Olympia Snowe (R). Six candidates are vying for the seat on the general election ballot.

Currently, the Democratic Party holds both Congressional seats and the Republican Party holds both U.S. Senate seats -- one of which is up for election on November 6th.

In Maine, municipalities with a population less than 500 open between 6 AM and 10 AM while municipalities with a population of 500 or more open between 6 AM and 8AM. All polls close at 8 PM.

See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)

U.S. Senate

In a competitive race for Senate, six candidates are running to fill the open seat created by the retirement of Republican incumbent Olympia Snowe. First elected in 1994, Snowe cited excessive partisanship as a reason why she did not seek re-election.. Former Governor Angus King, who is running as a nonpartisan candidate, is leading the pack in recent polling.

State	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
Maine Class 1 Senate seat	Cynthia Dill Charles Summers Andrew Ian Dodge Angus King Danny Francis Dalton Stephen Woods	Olympia Snowe	Pending	Pending

According to race ratings, Maine's U.S. Senate race is considered a toss-up.

U.S. House

Maine's 2nd Congressional District will house a rematch between two political veterans in the Nov. 6th elections. Five-term incumbent Mike Michaud (D) will face former rival Kevin Raye (R), a current state senator. In 2002, Michaud defeated Raye for the 2nd District house seat by only 4 percentage points. Since then, Raye has spent eight years as a state senator and two years as senate president. The political climate of the district has also changed in recent years. While Democrats still account for most registered voters, the 2nd District added 3,500 Republican voters and incorporated the city of Waterville, which is "Democratic leaning."

Here is a complete list of U.S. House candidates appearing on the general election ballot in Maine:

Candidates running by District

District	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
1st	Chellie Pingree Jonathan Courtney	Chellie Pingree	Pending	Pending
2nd	Mike Michaud Kevin Raye	Mike Michaud	Pending	Pending

Partisan breakdown by district

Members of the U.S. House from Maine -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	2	2
	Republican Party	0	0
Total		2	2

Comparison of new and old redistricting maps

Congressional Redistricting Map, approved September 2011  For more information, view Redistricting in Maine.
This is the approved congressional map using the 2010 Census. This is the approved congressional map using the 2000 Census.

Articles

• Political veterans face election rematch in Maine’s 2nd District September 25
• 2012 elections review: No incumbents defeated in Maine June 13
• 2012 elections preview: Maine voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries June 11
• Maine's Olympia Snowe will not seek re-election to U.S. Senate February 29

See also

• Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Maine State Legislature
• Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
• November 6, 2012 election results
• United States Congressional election results, 2012
• United States Senate elections in Maine, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Maine, 2012
  • Maine's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Maine's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
• Maine elections, 2012
• National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections