In Maine State Senate, term limits impact Democrats and Republicans equaly

August 11, 2010

Dennis Damon, who is ineligible to run for Maine State Senate District 28 because of term limits. Damon has held the seat since 2002.

By Caleb Palmer

Maine was one of the first states whose voters enacted state legislative term limits. In 2010, the impact of the term limits that Maine voters approved when they enacted Question 1 in 1993 on November 2, 1993 will be felt equaly by Democrats and Republicans.

Democratic state senators Bruce Bryant and Dennis Damon are ineligible to run for Maine State Senate elections, 2010|re-election to the Maine legislature in 2010, as are Republicans Carol Weston and Richard Nass.

Democrats hold a 5-seat advantage over Republicans going into the November 2 election, and their prospects of holding onto their state senate majority are enhanced by the fact that they are both losing two senators to term limits.

Louis Jacobson, a staff writer for PolitiFact, did an early-season analysis of which state legislatures may change majority party control as the result of the November elections. He rates the Maine State Senate as likely to remain in Democrat control but it may go either way due to anti-incumbent feelings.

See also

• Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2010#Maine
• Maine State Senate elections, 2010
• State senate elections, 2010
• State legislatures with term limits