Republicans scored an apparent pickup in Maine’s closely watched 2nd Congressional District after Democrat Matt Dunlap conceded to former Republican Governor Paul LePage. The result would give the GOP a seat held for four terms by Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. Dunlap conceded on November 5th, a day after LePage declared victory. Maine’s required ranked-choice tabulation remains scheduled for November 9th before the result can be finalized.
The November 3rd election pitted LePage against Dunlap, Maine’s state auditor, in an open-seat contest covering much of the state’s rural territory. Golden announced in November 2025 that he would not seek a fifth term. His departure gave Republicans an opening in a district President Donald Trump carried in three consecutive presidential elections, even as voters repeatedly returned Golden to Congress.
For LePage, the campaign offered a return to elected office after serving as governor from 2011 to 2019. He subsequently lost a 2022 comeback bid against Democratic Governor Janet Mills, although he carried the 2nd District in that election. Now 78, LePage would enter the House as one of its oldest freshmen after previously leading both Maine’s state government and the city of Waterville.
As Trending Politics reported, the Maine pickup came amid broader Democratic gains that gave Democrats control of the House. Republicans had made the district a major target, with House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigning twice in Maine for LePage, according to the Bangor Daily News’ reporting. The newspaper also reported roughly $35 million in outside-group advertising, citing AdImpact. The Congressional Leadership Fund backed LePage, while House Majority PAC supported Dunlap.
The initial districtwide compilation put LePage ahead by 5,418 votes. Maine’s secretary of state announced that he received 170,263 first-choice votes, or 49.894 percent of the 341,248 ballots cast, compared with Dunlap’s 164,845 votes, or 48.307%. Declared write-in candidates received 123 votes, while 6,017 ballots left the first-choice selection blank. With neither candidate exceeding half of all ballots cast, officials scheduled the additional tabulation.
Dunlap initially maintained that the contest remained too close to call after LePage’s Wednesday announcement. By Thursday afternoon, he conceded, according to the Maine Morning Star, which reported that an elections spokesperson said the tabulation would proceed despite his decision. Only LePage and Dunlap appeared as printed choices on the ballot, alongside the option of ranking a declared write-in candidate. Dunlap said, “Congratulations to Paul LePage, I wish him the best.”
Watch LePage’s victory announcement here. See WMTW’s video coverage here.
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The district’s late-reporting rural communities helped LePage overtake Dunlap as returns accumulated. The Bangor Daily News reported that LePage had trailed by about 1,000 votes early Wednesday before smaller Republican-leaning towns pushed him ahead. Dunlap had emerged from a four-way Democratic primary decided through ranked-choice voting. National Democrats had backed state Senator Joe Baldacci in that contest before rallying behind Dunlap for the general election.
Election officials will begin the next stage at 10 a.m. Monday at the Department of Public Safety headquarters in Augusta. The process will be open to the public and livestreamed through the secretary of state’s YouTube page. Municipal totals will first undergo verification before the ranked-choice rounds proceed. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said the first step would be to “verify the vote totals from every municipality to ensure accuracy.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.