What it Means for America
By Elizabeth Hildebrandt | News Editor
With the election results for the most part complete, we now have a good look at what the 2024 electoral map for Maine looks like. For the presidential race, at 52.1%, Harris won the popular vote for Maine, which is a 1% decrease from the 53.3% that Biden received in 2020. Trump lost the 2024 popular vote with 45.4%, but still improved his numbers from 2020 by 1.4%. As a result, with the divide of the two districts, three electoral votes went to Harris, and
one to Trump. In 2024, Trump also managed to flip Kennebec county to red when it was blue in 2020. For third-party candidates, Jill Stein received 1.1%, Chase Oliver for the Libertarian Party received .9%, and .3% went to Cornel West for the Justice for All Party. Write-ins got .2%. This is an interesting change as it reflects the nation-wide trend of shifting to the right, leaving many to wonder if this shift will be ever-growing or eventually reverse; and this will be evident as we move through the next few years.
As for the Senate, Angus King was reelected to a third term with 51.8% of the vote, followed by Republican candidate Demi Kouzounas with 34.6%. David Costello with the Democratic Party received 10.5% of the vote, and Jason Cherry, an independent, received 2.5%. Finally, write-ins obtained .7%.
This leaves the only race that has not been called yet, which is for the House. One of two races have been called, with incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree winning the first district with 58.1% of the vote. She is followed by Ronald Russell for the Republican Party with 36.2%, and lastly, Ethan Alcorn, an independent with 4.9% of the vote. Write-ins received .8% for this race. The race for the second district has not yet been called, but with 98% of votes in, incumbent Jared Golden leads the race for the Democratic Party with 49.9%. He is followed closely by Republican candidate Austin Theriault with 49.7%, a difference of around 700 votes. With no other candidates running, write-ins received 0.3%.
It is interesting to see where the state shifted in comparison to the 2020 election, and it is not alone in shifting to the right as every other state seemed to follow suit this year. Additionally, with the majority of both the Senate and House positions being controlled by Republicans now, both of which were previously led by Democrats in 2020, the next two years at least will reveal what is in store for a Republican congress. This is only furthered by the fact that Trump controversially, recently appointed Republican congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, and Elon Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Additionally, he has appointed former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services as of November 14. Will Republicans retain the American peoples’ faith and further the shift to the right for the next coming years, or will they lose the peoples’ trust, causing a turn to the left? The outlook is uncertain for now, but with the majority of congress and the White House in the Republican Party’s hands for the unforeseeable future, it is up to them to sway the citizens of our country.