Maine's 2nd congressional district

Maine's 2nd congressional district
	Maine's 2nd congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
	Jared Golden; D–Lewiston
Distribution	72.11% rural; 27.89% urban;
Population (2018)	652,869
Median income	$46,925
Ethnicity	94% white[1]; 2% Two or more races; 1% Native American; 1% Hispanic; 1% black; 1% Asian; 0% other;
Cook PVI	R+2[2]

Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering 27,326 square miles (70,770 km²), it comprises nearly 80% of the state's total land area. It is the largest district east of the Mississippi River and the 24th-largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72.11% of its population in rural areas, behind only Kentucky's 5th congressional district.[3]

The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metropolitan areas. It includes the cities of Lewiston, Bangor, Auburn and Presque Isle. It included the city of Waterville until 2011, when Maine's Congressional redistricting process following the 2010 US Census led to a shift of district boundaries within Kennebec County.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Jared Golden, who took office in 2019.

Historically, the district has tended to elect members from both parties and keep its incumbents. When Golden defeated two-term Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin in 2018, it was the first time an incumbent had lost reelection in the district since 1916.[4]

Since 1965, the district's representatives have frequently sought statewide office. Three U.S. Senators (Democrat William Hathaway, Republicans William Cohen and Olympia Snowe), one Governor (Democrat John Baldacci), and one nominee for Governor (Democrat Mike Michaud) all previously held the seat.

History

Until the Missouri Compromise was reached in 1820, Maine was a part of Massachusetts as the District of Maine. When it became a state in 1820, Maine had seven congressional districts credited to it (Massachusetts including Maine had been given 20 districts after the 1810 Census). Since Maine became a state, all but two districts have been reallocated to other states.

In 2018 the district became the first in the United States to elect the ranked choice winner over the first-past-the-post winner, after a referendum in 2016 changed Maine's electoral system from the latter system to the former. Incumbent representative Bruce Poliquin won a plurality of the first preference votes. However, the second and third preferences from two independent candidates flowed overwhelmingly to Jared Golden, allowing him to win with 50.6% of the vote once all preferences were distributed.

Election results from presidential races

In US presidential elections, most states give all the state's electoral votes to the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote. This is a type of winner-takes-all voting. Maine and Nebraska instead use the congressional district method, where the winner in each of the state's congressional districts gets one electoral vote, and the statewide winner gets an additional two electoral votes. Since Maine introduced this system in 1969, Maine's second district voted the same way as the entire state of Maine for every election until 2016.

Year	Results
1972	Nixon 62 – 38%
1976	Ford 49 – 48%
1980	Reagan 46 – 43%
1984	Reagan 62 – 38%
1988	Bush 55 – 45%
1992	Clinton 38 – 33% - 28%
1996	Clinton 51 – 30%
2000	Gore 47 – 46%
2004	Kerry 52 – 46%
2008	Obama 55 – 43%
2012	Obama 53 – 44%
2016[5]	Trump 51 – 41%

Composition

The boundaries of the District are open for reconsideration in light of population shifts revealed by the decennial US Census. Until 2011, Maine's constitution provided for the state to reapportion the Congressional districts based on census data every ten years beginning in 1983, which would have meant that the state was next due to consider redistricting in 2013. However, a federal lawsuit filed in March 2011 led to a requirement that Maine speed up its redistricting process.[6] Maine state legislators approved new boundaries on September 27, 2011.[7]

2013 – 2023

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years ↑	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
Ezekiel Whitman	Federalist	March 4, 1821 – June 1, 1822	17th	Redistricted from the Massachusetts's 15th district and re-elected in 1820. Resigned.	1821 – 1823 Cumberland County: Brunswick, Cape Elizabeth, Danville, Durham, Falmouth, Freeport, Gorham, Gray, Harpswell, New Gloucester, North Yarmouth, Portland, Pownal, Scarborough, Westbrook, Windham
Vacant		June 1, 1822 – December 2, 1822
Mark Harris	Democratic-Republican	December 2, 1822 – March 3, 1823		Elected to finish Whitman's term. Retired.
Stephen Longfellow	Adams-Clay Federalist	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th	Elected in 1823. Lost re-election.	1823 – 1833 Cumberland County: Brunswick, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Danville, Durham, Falmouth, Freeport, Gorham, Gray, Harpswell, New Gloucester, North Yarmouth, Poland, Portland, Pownal, Raymond, Scarborough, Standish, Westbrook, Windham
John Anderson	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833	19th 20th 21st 22nd	Elected in 1824. Re-elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Retired to run for Mayor of Portland.
Francis Smith	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	23rd 24th 25th	[data unknown/missing]
Francis Smith	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839	23rd 24th 25th	[data unknown/missing]
Albert Smith	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841	26th	[data unknown/missing]
William Pitt Fessenden	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	27th	[data unknown/missing]
Robert P. Dunlap	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847	28th 29th	[data unknown/missing]	[data unknown/missing]
Asa Clapp	Democratic	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	30th	[data unknown/missing]
Nathaniel Littlefield	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851	31st	[data unknown/missing]
John Appleton	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel Mayall	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	[data unknown/missing]	[data unknown/missing]
John J. Perry	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	[data unknown/missing]
Charles J. Gilman	Republican	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	35th	[data unknown/missing]
John J. Perry	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	[data unknown/missing]
Charles W. Walton	Republican	March 4, 1861 – May 26, 1862	37th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned on appointment as associate justice of Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
Vacant		May 26, 1862 – December 1, 1862
Thomas Fessenden	Republican	December 1, 1862 – March 3, 1863		Elected to finish Walton's term. [data unknown/missing]
Sidney Perham	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1869	38th 39th 40th	[data unknown/missing]	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel P. Morrill	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing] Lost renomination.	[data unknown/missing]
William P. Frye	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 17, 1881	42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when elected U.S. senator.
Vacant		March 17, 1881 – September 12, 1881	47th
Nelson Dingley Jr.	Republican	September 12, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th	Elected to finish Frye's term. Redistricted to the At-large district.
At-large districts used		March 3, 1883 – March 3, 1885	48th
Nelson Dingley Jr.	Republican	March 3, 1885 – January 13, 1899	49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th	Redistricted from the At-large district. Died.
Vacant		January 13, 1899 – June 19, 1899	55th 56th
Charles E. Littlefield	Republican	June 19, 1899 – September 30, 1908	56th 57th 58th 59th 60th	Elected to finish Dingley's term. Resigned.
Vacant		September 30, 1908 – November 3, 1908	60th
John P. Swasey	Republican	November 3, 1908 – March 3, 1911	60th 61st	Elected to finish Littlefield's term. [data unknown/missing]
Daniel J. McGillicuddy	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917	62nd 63rd 64th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Wallace H. White Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1931	65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Donald B. Partridge	Republican	March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933	72nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Edward C. Moran Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	73rd 74th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Clyde H. Smith	Republican	January 3, 1937 – April 8, 1940	75th 76th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		April 8, 1940 – June 3, 1940	76th
Margaret Chase Smith	Republican	June 3, 1940 – January 3, 1949	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th	Elected to finish her husband's term. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Charles P. Nelson	Republican	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1957	81st 82nd 83rd 84th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Frank M. Coffin	Democratic	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1961	85th 86th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for Governor of Maine.
Stanley R. Tupper	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963	87th	Redistricted from the 1st district. [data unknown/missing]
Clifford G. McIntire	Republican	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965	88th	Redistricted from the 3rd district. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.	[data unknown/missing]
William Hathaway	Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1973	89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. Senator.	[data unknown/missing]
William Cohen	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979	93rd 94th 95th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Olympia Snowe	Republican	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1995	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
John Baldacci	Democratic	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003	104th 105th 106th 107th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for Governor of Maine.
Mike Michaud	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for Governor of Maine.	2003 – 2013 Androscoggin County; Aroostook County; Franklin County; Hancock County; Oxford County; Penobscot County; Piscataquis County; Somerset County; Waldo County; Washington County; and part of Kennebec County: Benton, Clinton, Fayette, Litchfield, Oakland, Waterville, Wayne, and Winslow
Mike Michaud	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th		2013 – Present
Bruce Poliquin	Republican	January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019	114th 115th	Elected in 2014 Re-elected in 2016 Lost re-election.
Jared Golden	Democratic	January 3, 2019 – Present	116th	Elected in 2018.

Recent election results

1978 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe	87,939	50.82
	Democratic	Markham L. Gartley	70,691	40.85
	Independent	Frederick W. Whittaker	8,035	4.64
	Independent	Eddie Shurtleff	1,923	1.11
	Independent	Robert H. Burmeister	1,653	0.96
	Independent	Margaret E. Cousins	1,573	0.91
	Independent	Robert L. Cousins	1,223	0.71
Majority			17,248	9.97
Turnout			173,037
	Republican hold

1980 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	186,406	78.51
	Democratic	Harold L. Silverman	51,026	21.49
Majority			135,380	57.02
Turnout			237,612
	Republican hold

1982 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	136,075	66.65
	Democratic	James P. Dunleavy	68,086	33.35
Majority			67,989	33.30
Turnout			204,161
	Republican hold

1984 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	192,166	75.73
	Democratic	Chipman C. Bull	57,347	22.60
	Constitution	Kenneth E. Stoddard	4,242	1.67
Majority			134,819	53.13
Turnout			253,755
	Republican hold

1986 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	148,770	77.33
	Democratic	Kenneth P. Hayes	43,614	22.67
Majority			105,156	54.66
Turnout			192,384
	Republican hold

1988 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	167,226	66.21
	Democratic	Kenneth P. Hayes	85,346	33.79
Majority			81,880	32.42
Turnout			252,572
	Republican hold

1990 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	121,704	51.02
	Democratic	Patrick K. McGowan	116,798	48.97
		write-ins	20	0.01
Majority			4,906	2.06
Turnout			238,522
	Republican hold

1992 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (Incumbent)	153,022	49.13
	Democratic	Patrick K. McGowan	130,824	42.01
	Green	Jonathan Carter	27,526	8.84
		write-ins	61	0.02
Majority			22,198	7.13
Turnout			311,433
	Republican hold

1994 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Baldacci	109,615	45.69
	Republican	Richard A. Bennett	97,754	40.75
	Independent	John M. Michael	21,117	8.80
	Green	Charles Fitzgerald	11,353	4.73
		write-ins	55	0.02
Majority			11,861	4.94
Turnout			239,894
	Democratic gain from Republican

1996 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Baldacci (Incumbent)	205,439	71.92
	Republican	Paul R. Young	70,856	24.81
	Independent	Aldric Saucier	9,294	3.25
		write-ins	47	0.02
Majority			134,583	47.12
Turnout			285,636
	Democratic hold

1998 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Baldacci (Incumbent)	146,202	76.20
	Republican	Jonathan Reisman	45,674	23.80
Majority			100,528	52.39
Turnout			191,876
	Democratic hold

2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Baldacci (Incumbent)	219,783	73.43
	Republican	Richard H. Campbell	79,522	26.57
Majority			140,261	46.86
Turnout			299,305
	Democratic hold

2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district:
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud	116,868	52.01
	Republican	Kevin Raye	107,849	47.99
Total votes			224,717	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud (incumbent)	199,303	58.03
	Republican	Brian Hamel	135,547	39.47
	Socialist Equality	Carl Cooley	8,586	2.50
Total votes			343,436	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud (incumbent)	179,732	70.52
	Republican	L. Scott D'Amboise	75,146	29.48
Total votes			254,878	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud (incumbent)	226,274	67.44
	Republican	John Frary	109,268	32.57
Total votes			335,542	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud (incumbent)	147,042	55.13
	Republican	Jason J. Levesque	119,669	44.87
Total votes			266,711	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Michaud (incumbent)	191,456	58.2
	Republican	Kevin Raye	137,542	41.8
Total votes			328,998	100.0
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin	133,320	47.03
	Democratic	Emily Ann Cain	118,568	41.83
	Independent	Blaine Richardson	31,337	11.05
	Others		248	0.09
Total votes			283,473	100
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin	192,878	54.77
	Democratic	Emily Cain	159,081	45.17
	Libertarian	Jay Parker Dresser (Declared Write-In)	224	0.06
		Blank ballots	12,703	N/A
Total votes			364,886	100
	Republican hold

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine:
Maine's 2nd congressional district (RCV)
The 2018 election was the first to use ranked-choice voting as opposed to plurality voting since the district's creation.
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin	134,184	46.33
	Democratic	Jared Golden	132,013	45.58
	Independent	Tiffany L. Bond	16,552	5.71
	Independent	William R.S. Hoar	6,875	2.37
		Exhausted ballots (not included in total)	6,453	N/A
Total votes			289,624	100
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Democratic	Jared Golden	142,440	50.62
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin	138,931	49.38
	Democratic gain from Republican

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References

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US2302-congressional-district-2-me/
"Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
"Congressional Districts – 113th Congress Demographics – Urban Rural Patterns". proximityone.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
Kate Taylor; Liam Stack (November 15, 2018). "Maine's Bruce Poliquin, Lone Republican in House From New England, Loses Re-election". The New York Times.
https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2016&fips=23&f=0&off=0&elect=0&datatype=cd&def=1
Associated Press (2011). "Lawsuit aims to speed Maine redistricting". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
Russell, Eric (2011). "After long partisan fight, redistricting deal keeps boundaries much the same". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 17, 2012.

External links

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
Congressman Bruce Poliquin's web site

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] ttps://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US2302-congressional-district-2-me/

[Cook-2] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

[3] "Congressional Districts – 113th Congress Demographics – Urban Rural Patterns". proximityone.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.

[4] Kate Taylor; Liam Stack (November 15, 2018). "Maine's Bruce Poliquin, Lone Republican in House From New England, Loses Re-election". The New York Times.

[5] ttps://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2016&fips=23&f=0&off=0&elect=0&datatype=cd&def=1

[6] Associated Press (2011). "Lawsuit aims to speed Maine redistricting". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 17, 2012.

[7] Russell, Eric (2011). "After long partisan fight, redistricting deal keeps boundaries much the same". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 17, 2012.

Maine's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators	Susan Collins (R) Angus King (I)
Representatives (ordered by district)	Chellie Pingree (D) Jared Golden (D)

State of Maine
Augusta (capital)
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