On Tuesday, June 9, Maine used ranked choice voting (RCV) in primaries for governor, U.S. House, and state legislature. Today, the Department of the Secretary of State released ranked choice voting results for each race.

Here are some key takeaways from the results in the governor and congressional races:

• Maine saw competitive, open-seat races for governor and the 2nd Congressional District. With ranked choice voting, voters elected majority winners in all three races – instead of nominating winners with just 27%, 38%, and 32% of the vote. 
• Hannah Pingree won 56% of votes in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Bobby Charles won 60% of votes in the Republican gubernatorial primary, and Matt Dunlap won 52% of votes in the Democratic 2nd District primary.
• Turnout increased by 55% from the last competitive gubernatorial primary, with record primary turnout on the Democratic side. Hannah Pingree won the most votes of any Democratic nominee for governor in Maine history. 
• Because of RCV, 91% of voters weighed in between the two finalists in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, and 77% did so on the Republican side. That includes approximately 114,000 voters who ranked another candidate first, but still ranked one of the two finalists on their ballot. RCV gave voters in both parties more choice and more voice.

Ranked choice results of Maine’s Democratic governor primary

In the Democratic primary for governor, Hannah Pingree won a “come-from-behind” victory – defeating Nirav Shah, who led in first choices. Pingree’s victory came due to overwhelming backup-choice support from voters who ranked Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, and Angus King III first – Pingree earned 68% of total transfers, compared to 32% for Shah.

Pingree won with 111,750 votes, the most of any Democratic nominee for governor in Maine history. 

50% of Democratic primary voters ranked finalists Pingree or Shah first, but the half of voters who ranked another candidate first were still able to weigh in between Pingree and Shah in the RCV tally. In total, 89,542 voters did just that. 91% of all Democratic primary voters weighed in on the finalists.

During the campaign, Pingree, Jackson, and Bellows cross-endorsed each other – asking voters to rank the other two on their ballots. This was key to Pingree’s victory – Pingree was the most popular choice when Bellows and Jackson were eliminated, with 48% and 72% of their votes, respectively, transferring to her. 

Pingree’s strong backup-choice support was first demonstrated in a FairVote/SurveyUSA poll released shortly before the primary; on Primary Day, in addition to her support from Jackson and Bellows voters, Pingree also proved the most popular backup choice for King voters. 

In the coming days, we expect Maine to release a detailed cast vote record that will also show whether Pingree was a popular backup choice for Shah voters; Shah said he would rank Pingree second on his ballot at a May debate.

Ranked choice results of Maine’s Republican governor primary

Ranked choice voting also ensured a majority winner and prevented vote-splitting in the Republican gubernatorial primary. 

Bobby Charles led in first choices, and won a majority of votes by earning backup choices from supporters of other candidates.

While just 58% of Republican primary voters ranked Bobby Charles or Ben Midgley first, 77% of weighed in on the finalists in the RCV tally. This includes an additional 24,363 voters, who slightly favored Midgley – 56% of voters who ranked another candidate first preferred Midgely, and 44% preferred Charles.

Ranked choice results of Maine’s 2nd District Democratic primary

Three candidates – Joe Baldacci, Matthew Dunlap, and Jordan Wood – each won around 30% of voters’ first choices in the Democratic primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. In a choose-one election, nearly 40% of voters would not have been able to express their preference between the two strongest candidates. 

Instead, 87% of voters weighed in between the two finalists. Matt Dunlap trailed Joe Baldacci in first choices, but won the RCV count by receiving more backup-choice support. Dunlap was ranked higher by 63% of voters for the eliminated candidates, whereas Baldacci earned 37% of backup choices.

Dunlap’s strong support from voters who ranked Wood and Loud first is logical; all three are seen as more aligned with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Stay tuned for more analysis in the coming days, when Maine releases its cast vote record – an anonymized digital record of all ballots cast. To learn more about RCV in the Pine Tree State, visit Democracy Maine.