Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering 27,326 square miles (70,770 km2), it comprises nearly 80% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metropolitan areas. It includes the cities of Lewiston, Bangor, Auburn, and Presque Isle. The district is represented by DemocratJared Golden, who took office in 2019.
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Maine's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2023
It is the largest district by area east of the Mississippi River, and the 24th largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72% of its population in rural areas, and it has the second highest proportion of non-Hispanic White residents (94%); only Kentucky's 5th congressional district exceeds it in the two categories.[2] Furthermore, it is the only district in New England that voted for Donald Trump in 2020. Additionally, it was one of five districts that would have voted for Trump in 2020 had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Democrat in 2022.
Until the Missouri Compromise was reached in 1820, Maine was a part of Massachusetts as the District of Maine. When it became a state in 1820, Maine had seven congressional districts credited to it (Massachusetts including Maine had been given 20 districts after the 1810 census). Since Maine became a state, all but two districts have been reallocated to other states.
In 2018, the district became the first in the United States to elect the ranked choice winner over the first-past-the-post winner, after a referendum in 2016 changed Maine's electoral system from the latter system to the former. Incumbent representative Bruce Poliquin won a plurality of the first preference votes. However, the second and third preferences from two independent candidates flowed overwhelmingly to Jared Golden, allowing him to win with 50.6% of the vote once all preferences were distributed.
Historically, the district has tended to keep its incumbents regardless of party. When Golden defeated two-term Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin in 2018, it was the first time an incumbent had lost reelection in the district since 1916.[3] Since 1965, the district's representatives have frequently sought statewide office. Three U.S. senators (Democrat William Hathaway and Republicans William Cohen and Olympia Snowe), one governor (Democrat John Baldacci), and one nominee for governor (Democrat Mike Michaud) all previously held the seat. Due to its size, the district's congressman is usually reckoned as a statewide figure; its footprint includes portions of all three television markets anchored in the state.
The boundaries of the district are open for reconsideration in light of population shifts revealed by the decennial US census. Until 2011, Maine's constitution provided for the state to reapportion the congressional districts based on census data every ten years beginning in 1983, which would have meant that the state was next due to consider redistricting in 2013. However, a federal lawsuit filed in March 2011 led to a requirement that Maine speed up its redistricting process.[4] Maine state legislators approved new boundaries on September 27, 2011.[5]
In US presidential elections, most states give all the state's electoral votes to the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote. This is a type of winner-takes-all voting. Maine and Nebraska instead use the congressional district method, where the winner in each of the state's congressional districts gets one electoral vote, and the statewide winner gets an additional two electoral votes. Since Maine introduced this system in 1969, Maine's second district voted the same way as the entire state of Maine for every election until 2016 and 2020.
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