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Updated: November 4, 2020

Collins outpaces Gideon in Senate race, Maine's most expensive political contest ever

Photo / William Hall Tuesday's election included a host of national, state and local races. One of the most heated, and by far most expensive, was between Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and challenger Sara Gideon.
By William Hall

For voters in Maine, a divisive, expensive election season that seemed to never end had still refused to end by early Wednesday, the day after Election Day.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, running for her fifth consecutive term, was leading Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, 387,169 votes to 323,764, with an estimated 85% of ballots counted. But Collins had not declared victory, and her 51% margin of the vote barely rose above the 50% threshold necessary to avoid a ranked-choice tabulation that would determine the outcome.

Amid heavy voter turnout and even heavier absentee voting, ballots for Gideon, current speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, amounted to 43% of votes counted by 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Lisa Savage, an independent Green candidate, had tallied 37,841 votes, or 5%, and Independent Max Linn had received 12,551, or 2%.

Meanwhile, Maine’s incumbent Congressional representatives held onto more comfortable leads in their races for re-election.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, out-tallied Republican challenger Jay Allen, receiving over 247,000 votes, or 62% of those cast, to win her seventh consecutive term. In the 2nd District, Democratic freshman U.S. Rep. Jared Golden had received just over 183,000 votes, besting Republican challenger Max Linn by 22,000 votes and giving Golden a 53% edge.

All results were unofficial, pending certification by the office of Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.

Photo / William Hall
In Freeport, home town of Democratic challenger for U.S. Senate Sara Gideon, a sign planted by supporters deliberately identified her opponent, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, with President Donald Trump. Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Maine's presidential voting Tuesday, although the outcome nationally was still unclear Wednesday morning.

Mad money

Mirroring the presidential race, which was still undecided Wednesday morning, both Collins and Gideon ran aggressive, often negative campaigns fueled by money unprecedented in a Maine political contest.

Collins had raised $26.5 million in campaign contributions and spent $23 million by Oct. 14, the most recent date for which federal records were available. Gideon had outraised and outspent Collins by more than a 2-to-1 ratio, receiving $68.6 million and using $48 million of that total. Linn and Savage together had raised a total of about $650,000.

In 2018, spending on all Maine races — including ones for Congress, for the state Legislature and for governor — totaled $65.3 million.

The next-most expensive Senate race in Maine history took place in 2008, when Collins defeated Democrat Tom Allen in a contest that involved $14 million, or less than 15% of this year's total.

Nationally, only three other Senate races this year had drawn more money according to reports in October. Topping the list was the contest in South Carolina between Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, who together had raised over $174 million.

Records broken

This year’s election in Maine has also made history for other reasons.

As in many states, the number of absentee ballots cast hit an all-time high, driven by concerns about the pandemic and the ability to social distance at polling stations. On Monday afternoon, Dunlap said that over 528,000 absentee ballots had been issued, and 491,345 already returned.

Maine had 1,063,383 registered voters on Oct. 26, representing more than 95% of voting-age citizens. In the 2016 presidential election, 80% of voting-age Mainers registered to vote, and 73% — about 750,000 people — cast a ballot.

Perhaps because of the huge number of absentee ballots, lines of voters at the polls Tuesday were not overwhelming, although long in some areas.

Election observers from the League of Women Voters of Maine found lines of 45 minutes or more at 21 polling places, including ones in Augusta, Biddeford and Portland, out of 173 stations that were monitored.

The nonpartisan group’s executive director, Anna Kellar, said in a news release late Tuesday, “With such an influx of ballots casted via absentee, it is not surprising that Maine would have a smooth election day for in-person voting.”

In addition, the league said, 95% of the polls followed “high COVID standards,” including wearing of face masks by poll workers, the use of plastic barriers, and social distancing in the lines.

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