The accepted narrative on the right — heavily supported by reality — is that Democrats keep counting votes until they win, but there was a rare Republican victory in the state of Maine.
On Thursday, nine days after the midterm elections, the Associated Press called the race for Maine’s 2nd congressional district for former GOP Gov. Paul LePage over Democratic state auditor Matt Dunlap after officials finished the ranked choice voting process to determine the winner.
Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is already in Washington D.C. this week, even as Maine’s ranked-choice voting process grinds forward in a race his Democratic opponent already conceded.
LePage topped Democrat Matt Dunlap by more than 5,000 votes in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, but fell just short of a majority at 49.894%, triggering the ranked-choice count that kicked off Monday. The mostly rural district, the largest in the eastern U.S., went for Trump in all three of his presidential elections.
If the result holds, it would be the only blue-to-red House flip by Republicans in a non-redistricted seat in the midterms, a rare bright spot for the GOP after Democrats stormed back to grab a large House majority and recaptured the Senate.
Full story here https://t.co/lQ8LbMyWS8
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) November 9, 2026
President Donald Trump won the district by 9 points two years ago, but LePage’s success in flipping the seat was not the norm for the 2026 midterms — Democrat incumbent Rep. Jared Golden is retiring from Congress.
“The only other seats that went from blue to red are Texas’ 32nd congressional district and Tennessee’ 9th congressional district, but both of those flips were enabled by redistricting efforts that made the electorates far more conservative,” the AP reported.
Even more surprising is that LePage is a Trump ally.
Back in September, LePage was questioned about his son’s father-in-law facing deportation under President Trump’s enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
The Republican candidate responded by asking the media to respect that it was a “personal matter.”
Lepage reportedly added, “And the point of that issue, the whole issue is if you cross into the United States illegally and unlawfully, you need to be held accountable.”
To suggest that Americans are very skeptical of the electoral process in this country would be a vast understatement — here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
Waste of tax payer money, he had already won by a lot, no need for RCV BS.
— Homesteader123 (@homesteader1000) November 12, 2026
I’m sure the Democrats will find some extra votes hidden in a drawer somewhere
— RatRod_Outlaw (@RatrodOutlaw) November 13, 2026
Yeah, but a Maine Senate seat flipped from RINO to Commie
— AJRDale 🇺🇸 🏴 🇬🇧 (@AJRDale) November 13, 2026
Just another way that ranked choice voting wastes tax payers money
— Bill (@WilliamBrackett) November 12, 2026
I’m pretty sure there’s still a late ballot drop from Somalia arriving sometime next week
— Anthony Walker (@Anthony71008104) November 12, 2026
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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