The low-turnout June primary produced few surprises Tuesday, prompting both parties to begin gearing up for November.
That’s when all 186 seats in the Maine House and Senate will be on the ballot, alongside a three-way race for governor. Democrats control both chambers and the Blaine House now.
With results still coming in late Tuesday, Republicans wasted no time in pivoting toward the fall.
The Republican State Leadership Committee and Maine Republican Party issued statements highlighting high gas prices and a faltering stock market as they attempt to tie Democrats to unpopular President Joe Biden.
“Mainers are already cash-strapped thanks to record gas prices and inflation, and they simply can no longer afford a Democrat-controlled Legislature that thinks the solution to every problem is a tax hike,” said Dee Duncan, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee.
On Wednesday, the committee, which is based in Washington D.C., announced the last in a series of “Biden Remorse” digital ads that will run in Maine and other Democratically controlled states. The final ad of the $200,000 campaign focuses on schools and “how state Democrats across the country are following the lead of Joe Biden to shut parents out of schools in order to push their far-left agenda on kids.”
Democrats on Wednesday announced the “30 Days of Local Organizing” initiative in which party members in cities and towns across the state will meet to mobilize in advance of the November election, according to a press release.
They are also touting the success of Democratic Rep. Nicole Grohoski of Ellsworth, who on Tuesday defeated former Republican Sen. Brian Langley, also of Ellsworth, in a special election for Senate District 7. For months, Democrats have emphasized the importance of the race as a way to build momentum heading into November.
“Her victory is due in a large part to the dozens of Democratic activists who came out to enthusiastically support her candidacy,” Gaetan Davis, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Leading up to the primary, Spectrum News Maine highlighted a few races across the state, including two primaries in a Senate district in the Orono and Old Town area. Democrat Mike Tipping of Orono easily defeated fellow Democrat Abe Furth of Old Town, who was backed by party leadership.
Tipping earned 62% of the vote to Furth’s 38%, with 74% of precincts reporting.
On the Republican side, Eric Rojo of Lincoln is the apparent winner over Grace Tibbetts, also of Lincoln, by a margin of 54% to 46%.
There will be a ranked-choice runoff in Senate District 16, where a three-way GOP primary failed to produce an election night winner who earned at least 50% of the vote. Rep. Michael Perkins of Oakland holds a strong lead with 44% of the vote, with Kevin Kitchin of Fairfield garnering 38% and Mark Andre of Oakland at 18%.
The runoff will be held Thursday or Friday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The winner will face Democrat David LaFountain of Winslow, a retired local fire chief. That will be a race to watch in November, as the parties battle for all 35 Senate seats.
Other interesting Senate battles will include:
A rematch between Langley and Grohoski as they once again compete for the Hancock County seat. While Grohoski easily won the special election with 64% of the vote, the low turnout makes it difficult to project how the race will be decided in November.
District 14 in Kennebec County, where incumbent Sen. Craig Hickman of Winthrop will face Rep. Jeff Hanley (R-Pittston). The district has flip-flopped between the parties over the last decade, although Democrats have held the seat since 2017.
District 20 in Androscoggin County, where former Sen. Eric Brakey, a Republican who ran for U.S. Senate in 2018 before moving out of state and then returning, will face Democrat Bettyann Sheats. Sheats is a West Point graduate who served in the Maine House from 2016 to 2020, when she was defeated by Republican Rep. Laurel Libby.
Over in the House, with 151 seats to fill, there are several key races, including:
A rematch in House District 59, the Augusta district where Democrat Raegan LaRochelle defeated Republican James Orr last year in a special election. On Tuesday, Orr handily defeated Augusta City Councilor Michael Michaud in a GOP primary, 63% to 37%. But last fall, LaRochelle defeated Orr by about 300 votes.
In nearby Readfield, former Rep. Corey Wilson, a Republican, is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Tavis Hasenfus for the House District 57 seat. Wilson, a former Augusta City councilor and state representative from 2012-2014, seeks to return to the State House, while Hasenfus, a Winthrop attorney, works to hold the seat.
District 66, where former House Speaker Robert Nutting, a Republican, is trying to make a comeback by running for an open seat against Navy veteran Alicia Barnes, a former Kennebec County Democratic Committee chairwoman. Both live in Oakland and are running for the seat vacated by Rep. Michael Perkins, who is running for the Senate.
District 136, where Democrats are challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Heidi Sampson of Alfred, who made headlines last summer for comparing Gov. Janet Mills to Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor who ran experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. Democrat Joseph Wagner of Lyman, a high school social studies teacher who served in the House from 2008-2010, and describes himself as a centrist Democrat, is the challenger.