November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04) 2016 → 51.53% 38.50% | 305,242 228,071 Start date November 4, 2014 | |
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The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 to elect the two U.S. Representatives from the state of Maine, one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections will coincide with the elections of other federal and state offices, including Governor of Maine and United States Senate. The primary elections were held on June 10, 2014.
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This election marked the first time since 1994 that Maine elected a Republican into the House of Representatives.
District 1
The 1st district includes covers the southern coastal area of the state, including all of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc and York counties and most of Kennebec County. Located within the district are the cities of Portland, Augusta, Brunswick and Saco. The incumbent is Democrat Chellie Pingree, who has represented the district since 2009. She was re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+9.
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District 2
The 2nd district covers 27,326 square miles (70,770 km2), comprising nearly 80% of the state's total land area. It is the largest district east of the Mississippi River and the 24th-largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72.11% of its population in rural areas, behind only Kentucky's 5th congressional district. It includes most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metropolitan areas, including the cities of Bangor, Lewiston, Auburn and Presque Isle. The incumbent is Democrat Mike Michaud, who has represented the district since 2003. He was re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of D+2.
Michaud did not seek re-election, and was selected as Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine in the 2014 election.
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Polling
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Campaign
Bruce Poliquin resisted invitations to debates where Blaine Richardson would be present, including one sponsored by MPBN. Political observers stated this might have been due to Richardson's potential to split the conservative vote. Emily Cain expressed support for Richardson being present at debates and said she will only attend debates where both of the other candidates are present. A debate to be held on WMTW-TV was cancelled after Cain pulled out to protest Richardson not being invited. WMTW said they and their parent company, Hearst Television, had strict criteria for invitations to debates that Richardson did not meet. This criteria included holding large campaign events, fundraising, and performance in polling, all of which WMTW said were not met.
On August 29, Richardson revealed, and Poliquin's campaign confirmed, that Richardson rejected a request from Poliquin to quit the race. A Poliquin spokesman stated the phone call was made because Richardson has "no chance" to win and "seems more interested in working with Emily Cain to bash Bruce rather than have a discussion about the future". Richardson said he would stay in the race and he was "so fed up with the parties, both of them". He also said that Poliquin asking him to quit was one of the biggest boosts for his campaign it has seen.