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United States Senate election in Maine, 2024 (June 11 Democratic primary)

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U.S. Senate, Maine
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 15, 2024
Primary: June 11, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
Pre-election incumbent:
Angus King (independent)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Maine
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe independent
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
U.S. Senate, Maine
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd
Maine elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A Democratic Party primary took place on June 11, 2024, in Maine to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the state's general election on November 5, 2024.

David Costello advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maine.

Thirty-four of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were up for election in 2024, including one special election. At the time of the election, Democrats had a 51-49 majority.[1] Of the seats up for election in 2024, Democrats held 19, Republicans held 11, and independents held four. As of May 2024, eight members of the U.S. Senate had announced they were not running for re-election.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 15, 2024
June 11, 2024
November 5, 2024


Heading into the election, the incumbent was Angus King (independent), who was first elected in 2012.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Maine utilizes a semi-closed primary process, in which both registered party members and unaffiliated voters may participate. Unaffiliated voters may vote in one partisan primary of their choosing in each election.[2][3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Maine's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate Maine

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: David Costello in round 1 .

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 54,537
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

David Costello

Image of David Costello

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I was born in Bangor in 1960 and raised in Old Town, Maine by his mother Gail, and maternal grandparents, Alfred and Pauline Baillargeon. My father John, an Army veteran and AFL- CIO organizer, died in 1968 at the age of thirty-one. The grandson of French and Irish American shoe, textile, and railroad workers, I learned the value of hard work at an early age. And, like many in Maine, I was the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree having worked my way through the University of Maine, George Washington University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. With more than twenty-five years of senior- level government experience, I believe that I have the knowledge and skills necessary to make a meaningful difference in Washington. During my career, I have managed complex, multi-million-dollar programs both in the U.S. and overseas - including initiatives to combat climate change, revitalize communities, protect public health and the environment, and advance peaceful democratic change in such conflict-torn countries as Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo. "

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Partisan gridlock abounds and our imperfect democracy is in danger of becoming even more flawed. To fix it, we need to do more than simply change who we elect every two to six years. We need to substantially reform our governing practices and institutions, and we need to eliminate the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth, and disinformation have over our politics and government.

I am running for the United States Senate because I want to advance long-overdue reforms that will not only help end gridlock in Washington but also help in protecting our rights and freedoms and assist in addressing such pressing problems as climate change, uneven economic prosperity, inadequate health care, shoddy infrastructure, under performing schools, increasing gun violence, and insufficient retirement security. I am also running because I want to help in ensuring that all Mainers are provided with the education, job skills, and other life-enriching opportunities to thrive. Having grown up in a working-class family I can appreciate the challenges confronting many of Maine’s less affluent families.

As Senator, I will back efforts to: enact pro-democracy campaign finance reforms; impose term limits and retirement age requirements on federal judges, including Supreme Court justices; create an independent Government Accountability and Performance Commission; abolish the Electoral College; end gerrymandering and the Senate filibuster; overhaul of the U.S. House and Senate to ensure greater accountability and more equal representation; impose 24-year term limits on members of the U.S. House and Senate; and streamline our Constitution’s amendment process so that it is no longer virtually impossible to update our national charter.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. Senate Maine in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Maine

Election information in Maine: June 11, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: June 11, 2024
  • By mail: Received by May 21, 2024
  • Online: May 21, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: June 6, 2024
  • By mail: Received by June 6, 2024
  • Online: June 6, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: June 11, 2024
  • By mail: Received by June 11, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

May 12, 2024 to June 6, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (EST)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
David Costello Democratic Party $111,308 $111,627 $0 As of December 12, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Maine in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Maine, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Maine U.S. Senate Qualified party 2,000 Fixed number N/A N/A 3/15/2024 Source
Maine U.S. Senate Unaffiliated 4,000 Fixed number N/A N/A 6/3/2024 Source

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.


See also: Presidential voting trends in Maine and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Maine, 2024
District Incumbent Party PVI
Maine's 1st Chellie Pingree Electiondot.png Democratic D+9
Maine's 2nd Jared Golden Electiondot.png Democratic R+6


2020 presidential results by 2024 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2024 district lines, Maine[4]
District Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Maine's 1st 60.0% 37.2%
Maine's 2nd 45.5% 51.6%


2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2020 presidential election, 53.0% of Mainers lived in one of the state's seven Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 36.6% lived in one of seven Trending Republican counties. Overall, Maine was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Maine following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

Maine presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 11 Democratic wins
  • 20 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party R R R D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D R R R R R D D D D D D D D

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Maine

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Maine.

U.S. Senate election results in Maine
Race Winner Runner up
2020 51.0%Republican Party 42.4%Democratic Party
2018 54.3%Grey.png (Independent) 35.2%Republican Party
2014 68.5%Republican Party 31,5%Democratic Party
2012 52.9%Grey.png (Independent) 30.7%Republican Party
2008 61.3%Republican Party 38.6%Democratic Party
Average 57.6 36.7

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Maine

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Maine.

Gubernatorial election results in Maine
Race Winner Runner up
2022 55.7%Democratic Party 42.4%Republican Party
2018 50.9%Democratic Party 43.2%Republican Party
2014 48.2%Republican Party 43.4%Democratic Party
2010 37.6%Republican Party 35.9%Grey.png (Independent)
2006 38.1%Republican Party 30.2%Democratic Party
Average 44.4 38.8
See also: Party control of Maine state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Maine's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Maine
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 2 2
Republican 1 0 1
Independent 1 0 1
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 2 4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Maine's top three state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Maine, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Janet T. Mills
Secretary of State Democratic Party Shenna Bellows
Attorney General Democratic Party Aaron Frey

State legislature

Maine State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 22
     Republican Party 13
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 35

Maine House of Representatives

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 80
     Republican Party 68
     Independent 1
     Independent for Maine Party 1
     Libertarian Party 0
     Other 0
     Vacancies 1
Total 151

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Maine Party Control: 1992-2024
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor R R R I I I I I I I I D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D
Senate D D D R R D D D D S S D D D D D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D

The table below details demographic data in Maine and compares it to the broader United States as of 2022.

Demographic Data for Maine
Maine United States
Population 1,362,359 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 30,844 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 92.3% 65.9%
Black/African American 1.6% 12.5%
Asian 1.1% 5.8%
Native American 0.5% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0% 0.2%
Other (single race) 0.6% 6%
Multiple 3.9% 8.8%
Hispanic/Latino 1.9% 18.7%
Education
High school graduation rate 94.1% 89.1%
College graduation rate 34.1% 34.3%
Income
Median household income $68,251 $75,149
Persons below poverty level 6.4% 8.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Two Independents caucused with the Democratic Party. Another independent, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, counted toward the Democratic majority for committee purposes.
  2. ↑ NCSL, "State Primary Election Types," accessed June 12, 2024
  3. ↑ Main Legislature Revised Statutes, "§341. Unenrolled voter participation in primary elections allowed," accessed June 12, 2024
  4. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed December 15, 2023


Maine's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Susan Collins (R)
Angus King (I)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Democratic Party (2)
Republican Party (1)
Independent (1)


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