Democrat Jared Golden beats GOP’s Poliquin in Maine

Democrat Jared Golden defeated incumbent Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) in a ranked-choice runoff Thursday morning, more than a week after the election.

{mosads}State election officials declared Golden the winner in Maine’s 2nd District race shortly after noon on Thursday. It was the first use of ranked balloting in a congressional election, according to The Associated Press.

Poliquin last week sued in an attempt to stop the ranked balloting system from being used to declare a winner in the race, but a judge denied the request. 

Under the new voting system, additional rounds of voting were required because neither Poliquin nor Golden won a majority of the votes on Tuesday. The new voting system allows voters to rank candidates from first to last. 

U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker in denying the injunction request left open the possibility of a legal battle over the results, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Golden, a Marine veteran, ran on progressive policies such as “Medicare for all.” The Democratic victory is a swing back for the district after it went for President Trump in 2016. It previously went for former President Obama. 

The district, in the rural, northern area of Maine, is a rare area of New England potentially hospitable to congressional Republicans, despite Poliquin’s loss. 

Updated at 12:40 p.m.