AUGUSTA — A recount is underway in the race for the 2nd Congressional District, where the margin of victory is less than 1%.
State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) requested the recount even before the ranked-choice vote count produced totals that showed incumbent U.S. Rep. Jared Golden with 50.35% and Theriault with 49.65%.
That’s a difference of 2,706 votes in a race with more than 403,000 ballots cast.
On Monday, teams for Golden and Theriault gathered at Maine State Police Headquarters to begin the recount. It will be done in stages, and because the margin of victory is more than 1,000 votes, the Theriault campaign will be required to pay for it, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said.
The campaign has put down a $5,000 deposit and will be charged the full cost once the recount is over.
“It’s the closest race in recent history and there was some stuff we wanted to take a look at and this is the process to do that,” said Shawn Roderick, Theriault’s campaign manager.
The campaign requested that the recount start with Aroostook County, partly because they want to double-check the votes out of Presque Isle. Roderick said the campaign was surprised Theriault didn’t perform better in Presque Isle given how other Republicans fared.
They also asked for recounts of ballots in Bangor, Lewiston and part of Kennebec County. If the campaign is satisfied with the results, the recount could end at any point.
Even before the ranked choice count, Golden declared victory, saying that he believed the margin would be too much for Theriault to overcome. If the results hold, Golden will be sworn in for his fourth term on Jan. 3.
Republicans identified the 2nd District as a potential seat to help widen their margin in the U.S. House. In August, House Speaker Mike Johnson made a campaign stop in Lewiston to emphasize the importance of the race to Republicans.
Yet when it comes to campaign funds, Golden raised $6.8 million to Theriault’s $3.2 million, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks political spending. Those totals are from mid-October, the most recent reports available.
Outside groups spent similar amounts to try to influence voters, with a total of nearly $13 million spent to support and oppose Golden and $12.3 million on Theriault, Open Secrets reports.
Bellows said given the results of several Maine House and Senate recounts in recent weeks she’s confident the 2nd District tally will not turn up any irregularities.
“Having done so many legislative recounts, we have a lot of confidence in the election night results coming out of the towns and we don’t anticipate any changes in this recount,” she said.