Start date November 6, 2018 | ||
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The 2018 United States Senate election in Maine will be held on November 6, 2018, alongside a gubernatorial election, U.S. House elections, and other state and local elections. Incumbent independent Senator Angus King has indicated he will seek reelection to a second term.
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This U.S. Senate election is scheduled to be the first in the entire United States to be conducted with ranked choice voting, as opposed to a simple plurality, after Maine voters passed a citizen referendum approving the change in 2016.
Independents
Sen. King has stated that his re-election plans will not be affected by treatment for prostate cancer, which he announced he had on June 22, 2015.
Declared
Potential
Declined
Republican Primary
Maine Governor Paul LePage made a statement on Howie Carr's radio program on January 12, 2015 that he might run for U.S. Senate against King, citing King's switching his endorsement in the 2014 gubernatorial election from independent candidate Eliot Cutler to Democratic candidate Mike Michaud as a "horrible thing to do". LePage stated the next day that the comment was a joke, though on an August 25, 2015 appearance on Carr's program, he said he was "very strongly" considering running, citing King's caucusing with Senate Democrats. He has also criticized King for his involvement in the Maine wind energy industry, saying King "ripped us off by $104 million during his eight years as governor – he ripped us off, royally, and I can’t wait until 2018 because I’m thinking that’s the guy I’m going after." A spokesman for King dismissed LePage's criticism.
About 100 self-proclaimed progressive Mainers have signed a Moveon.org petition encouraging LePage to enter the race, not because they want to see him win, but because they want to see him lose to King. The petition states "Your opponents deserve the delicious schadenfreude of watching the Hindenberg[sic]-level disaster that a LePage Senate campaign will deliver."
LePage announced at a town hall meeting in Oakland on May 10, 2016 that he would run against King unless he was hired by the Donald Trump administration.