Hand recount to begin in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District race

By Kevin Miller, Maine Public

Later Monday, state elections officials will begin a hand recount of the more than 400,000 ballots cast in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District race.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden defeated Republican Austin Theriault by roughly 2,700 votes following a ranked-choice runoff on Nov. 15. Theriault’s campaign immediately filed a recount request because the margin between the two was roughly 0.5 percent.

In a hand recount, representatives of each campaign work with staff from the secretary of state’s office to manually review each paper ballot. The process could take several weeks. But Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick said that, during the first stage, they will focus on ballots from Bangor, Presque Isle, Lewiston and Kennebec County.

“You know, it’s under 1 percent. That’s why we want to look at some of the bigger municipalities first and see if anything moves. And then, if it doesn’t, you know, we’ll re-evaluate where things are at,” he said.

Maine’s 2nd District contest was one of the most expensive and competitive House races in the country. Golden is a moderate or centrist Democrat who won a fourth term representing the rural, more conservative district.

Theriault, meanwhile, is a former NASCAR driver who currently represents his hometown of Fort Kent in the Maine House.

This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.