Maine House Race Heads to Ranked-Choice Count
No candidate in the open Golden seat race won a majority of first-round votes, sending the contest to ranked-choice tabulation.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Elections
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Paul LePage and Matt Dunlap were the leading candidates in the race for the Maine House seat held by outgoing Rep. Jared Golden. LePage received nearly 50 percent of the first-round vote and Dunlap received 48 percent, and because neither reached a majority the race moves to ranked-choice tabulation.
Why it matters
The result shows how Maine's ranked-choice system, which applies to every race statewide, determines outcomes when no first-choice majority emerges. Voters and campaigns in Maine must now wait for second-choice votes to be counted before a winner is declared.
LePage received nearly 50 percent of first-round votes and Dunlap received 48 percent, with no candidate reaching a majority. The outcome depends on ranked-choice redistribution, which has not yet been completed.
The players
Paul LePage
Former Maine governor and Republican who received nearly 50 percent of the first-round vote in the House race.
Matt Dunlap
Maine state auditor and Democratic candidate who received 48 percent of the first-round vote in the House race.
Maine Secretary of State's office
State office responsible for verifying municipal vote totals and overseeing ranked-choice tabulation in Maine.
The details
The Maine Secretary of State's office verifies vote totals from every municipality before ranked-choice tabulation begins. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest-scoring candidate is eliminated and ballots are retallied using voters' second choices.
Timeline
2016: Maine voters approved the ranked-choice voting ballot measure.
2018: Maine implemented ranked-choice voting statewide.
November 5, 2026: The Secretary of State announced the House race was headed to ranked-choice tabulation.
Political Context
Maine and Alaska are the only two states that use ranked-choice voting statewide, a system Maine adopted in 2018 after voters approved a 2016 ballot measure. Critics of ranked-choice voting have questioned its complexity, but the current race shows the system being applied to a contest with no first-round majority.
Maine voters who ranked candidates will see their second choices counted only if no first-round majority emerges, which is the situation here. Until the tabulation finishes, the winner of this House seat remains undetermined.
The takeaway
Ranked-choice voting means a candidate's lead in first-round votes does not guarantee victory, so voters in close contests should understand how their ballot will be counted. Watch for official updates from the Maine Secretary of State as the tabulation proceeds.
Further reading
Explore more on Elections to see how ranked-choice counts shape Maine's races.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Hill.
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