A Quiet Year in Maine

By Professor L. Sandy Maisel of Colby College

Return to Maine Coverage

By all accounts the 2000 election looks to be a quiet one in Maine. The state's traditional caucus system for selecting delegates to the presidential nominating conventions gave way to a primary system before the 1996 nominating season. Whereas once the Maine primaries attracted some candidate and media attention, falling quickly on the heels of the New Hampshire primary, the 2000 primary, buried in the mega-event of March 7, will scarcely be noticed. On the Democratic side, Vice President Al Gore has the support of the most of the leaders in the state, but Senator Bradley is attracting some attention. None of the Republican campaigns is visible or active. The prize in term of convention delegates or publicity is small in both cases-and the lack of activity reflects this.

One would expect the general election to be more closely contested. Maine is one of two state in the union (Nebraska is the other) that selects electors by a district system, one election being chosen in each congressional district and two and two at large. While all four have gone to the same candidate since this system went to effect in 1976, the oddity of the process and the possibility of a split vote merits attention. Ross Perot finished second in Maine (ahead of George Bush) in 1992 and polled 15% in 1996. With its tradition of supporting non-major party candidates (the governor, Agnus King, has twice been elected as an Independent), Maine might be a state in which the Reform party makes a difference. The contours of the fight for the scant four electoral votes is not yet clear.

Clearer, however, is the fact that Senator Olympia Snowe will not be challenged. Her only announced rival, Former State Senate President Mark Lawerence, has just passed 100,000 in campaign funds - hardly enough to threaten the popular senior senator. The two Democratic congressmen, Tom Allen and John Baldacci, like Snowe, are unopposed for renomination and have yet to attract opponents seen as serious threats, two Republican state legislators seem set to compete for the nomination to oppose Allen.

The Democrats control both houses of Maine's state legislature, but swings of four or five seats could change that situation. Thus, some of the most closely watched contests in 2000 are likely to be those further down the ballot.