For the first time, it looks like Maine’s electoral votes will be split

Portland Press Herald ^ | 9/25/16 | SCOTT THISTLE

[Redmen4ever]

For the first time in Maine history, voters are poised to split the state’s four Electoral College votes between the top two candidates running for the White House.

[Redmen4ever]

It appears that the electors associated with the state's 1st and 2nd CDs will split, and the state's two at-large electors are in play. Gary Johnson is drawing a big number. Many undecideds appear to be undecided between Trump and Johnson, not so much Trump and Clinton.

[Alberta's Child]

I wish every state was like this. It would completely change the dynamics of a presidential election.

[TigerClaws]

Agree.

[bigbob]

Yep. If Maine doesn’t split I can’t understand how LePage got elected Governor.

[jjotto]

Ooooh! I see a conspiracy theory starting.

Inconclusive Electoral College vote could lead to the House picking the Prez, from among the top *THREE* EV vote-getters. And so Johnson’s one or few EVs allow the Uniparty to name him Prez, avoiding the Trump wild card and the Hillary revenge machine!

I’m going to start blogging now!

[proudpapa]

Trump needs to hold one rally in the Augusta Civic Center. Over 95% of Mainiacs live within 75 minutes of Augusta.

[Oatka]

I wish every state was like this. It would completely change the dynamics of a presidential election.

Awarding Electoral votes by Congressional Districts would go a long way in breaking the ability of the metropolitan areas always calling the shots.

Why in Hell did the Republican governor veto it? It would have gutted the upcoming Pittsburgh/Philadelphia fraudulent vote argument.

[martinidon]

I would want to see how it would impact States Republicans rely on. If the Republicans lost EC votes in a split with Texas, Miss, AL, etc would they gain the same or more EC votes in CA, NY, PA, etc. My concern would be losing TX EC votes and not gaining many if any CA EC votes. I

[Alberta's Child]

I would prefer this type of system even if it didn't favor the Republican Party in the short term.

But it probably would, anyway. Just look at how the GOP has been able to maintain a House majority over most of the last two decades, and controlled the Senate and most governor seats for much of that time as well.

[Alberta's Child]

Here's some interesting information from a website called "Ballotpedia" ...

As of September 1, 2016, 5,352 state representatives were affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties. This total is updated monthly.

Democratic state representatives -- 2,331 (43%)
Republican state representatives -- 3,021 (56%)

Just a bit of an indication of where the two major parties stand at smaller geographic scales.

[Maine Mariner]

LePage ran against two other opponents.

[jjotto]

2012: Romney 226 CDs, Obama 209 CDs.

Wouldn’t have helped McCain in 2008 though.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I live in Maine, and when Gov. Paul LePage was re-elected in November 2014, he did much better than expected in the Portland area, which is both the most heavily populated area of Maine and the most liberal.

I just wish Trump would run ads here. I haven’t seen nor heard a single Trump ad. Then again, I haven’t seen or heard any for Pickles Clinton, either.

Trump could take the entire state of Maine if he would advertise here.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

In regards to California, the GOP would gain quite a few electoral votes if California apportioned those electoral votes by congressional district.

I used to live there many years ago, and once you get away from the coast, most of California is rather conservative (meaning once you get away from both the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas).

Out of 53 congressional districts, I would expect the GOP presidential candidate to win an impressive chunk of them.
Heck, if the GOP candidate won 20 congressional districts in California, that would be the equivalent of carrying Pennsylvania under the current system.

[Steven Scharf]

july4thfreedomfoundation wrote: I live in Maine, and when Gov. Paul LePage was re-elected in November 2014, he did much better than expected in the Portland area, which is both the most heavily populated area of Maine and the most liberal.

Not only did Paul LePage do better in the Portland area, in Portland itself he increased his vote total and the percentage of the Portland vote. When you tell a local liberal thos, argue it was because there were 5 candidate’s in 2010 and only 3 in 2014.

[Steven Scharf]

We have 5 ballot questions on the November ballot, all advanced by liberal entities. Our presidential year elections bring out more liberals. The ballot questions are going to back fire on them. At least two will go down in flames with a universal background check measure bringing voters to the polls in droves.

Driving around southern Maine, the ONLY signs I have seen on the ballot measures have been many opposing the background check.

Also some Trump signs and local candidate’s.