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| đź“·Â Former state Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, greets voters at the polls in Lewiston while running for Maine's 2nd Congressional District on July 14, 2020. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett) |
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đź“® Only one recount has been requested in Maine's legislative races so far.
◉ That is in Senate District 20, where former state Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, bested former state Rep. Bettyann Sheats, D-Auburn, by 183 votes and a margin of just over 1 percentage point, according to unofficial results reported to the BDN.
â—‰ That margin is well within a state threshold that allows losing candidates to request a recount without paying a deposit, but Brakey is probably safe with a lead large enough that only major counting problems would reverse the outcome. Democrats have healthy margins in both legislative chambers, so recounts will not affect power balances.
â—‰ Recounts must be requested by the end of the day on Wednesday. The closest legislative race was won by Republican Barbara Bagshaw of Windham by 26 votes. Three other House races decided by 57 votes or fewer are within the 1.5-point threshold for taxpayer-funded recounts if they are requested.
👬 New Republican legislative leaders introduce themselves on talk radio.
â—‰ The two incoming minority leaders, Sen. Trey Stewart of Presque Isle and Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, had Tuesday appearances on WVOM for the first time since they were picked to lead their caucuses.
â—‰ "The left seems to be focused on the woke culture agenda, while we're focused on making sure that you can feed your family and keep the lights on," Stewart said.
â—‰ "For some reason, our message wasn't strong enough that we were going to do something about it," Faulkingham said of the election results. "It's hard to compete with $850 checks, when something's your idea, and then the woman in the Blaine House takes credit for it." |
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What we're reading
đź“ž One of Maine's Tuesday hoax reports of school shootings caused chaos and terror in Sanford. Trauma from these events can still be real.
đź’ł Higher-ups at a bankrupt crypto firm under federal investigation gave $100,000 to Maine Democrats and a smaller share to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
đź’Ť The Mormon church took the extraordinary step of backing a Collins-led bill to shield federal protections for same-sex marriage.
đź‘Ą In a closed-door meeting, Collins defended Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, from an internal leadership challenge.
âś‹ A Down East town may slow down the development of a $1 billion veterans park with the world's tallest flagpole. |
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