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Democrats question how 21 more votes from Long Island, all for the Republican, turned up in the very close District 25 recount. Maine Democratic Party is calling for investigation into ballot count discrepancies on Long Island The party’s claim involves 21 ballots from the island town that appeared on Nov. 18, when the Secretary of State’s Office conducted recount in the race between Republican Cathy Manchester of Gray and Democrat Cathy Breen of Falmouth. The ballots were not tabulated by Long Island officials on election night Nov. 4, and all 21 of them were cast for Manchester, according to written...

PORTLAND Maine (Reuters) - Maine's largest city has begun clamping down on spending as newly re-elected Republican Governor Paul LePage makes good on a campaign promise to cut funding to cities and towns that give aid to undocumented immigrants. In an internal memo released on Wednesday, Portland city officials said they had frozen hiring and cut travel and overtime spending after their requests for reimbursement from the state for assistance provided to families with children in emergencies had gone unanswered since July. The budget shortfall could grow to as much as $3 million this year, city officials said, a hefty...

Maine’s Republican governor, Paul LePage, has opened up a 10-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Representative Michael H. Michaud, according to new poll released Sunday for The Maine Sunday Telegram/Portland Press Herald. Mr. LePage’s 45-to-35-percent lead is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error and has struck fear in the hearts of Democrats. Previous polls had shown the race a dead heat between Mr. LePage and Mr. Michaud. A third candidate, Eliot Cutler, an independent, continues to trail, with the new poll giving him 16 percentage points. The poll has led Maine Democrats to turn up the heat on Mr....

My Aroostook County Maine field sign for 2014.Maine is all in for our Tea Party Guvnah, Paul Lepage! Have a look-see.

2nd Congressional district

Live Thread

In the past, Republican primary opponents for Maine's 2nd Congressional District haven't been shy about expressing their criticisms of each other or the political system. But they usually draw a line at recommending that disgruntled voters should elect Democrats instead. Yet, when an audience member at a Thursday evening candidate's debate in Machias rose to criticize Sen. Susan Collins' performance in office, congressional hopeful Bruce Poliquin agreed, saying he shared the speaker's frustration. "We have career politicians who are afraid to solve tough problems," Poliquin said. "I'm a businessperson trying to solve problems. I agree with you - we ought...

Erick Bennett, a Portland political consultant and founder of the conservative Maine Equal Rights Center, announced Monday that he’ll run as a primary challenger to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. But in an interview, Bennett seemed pretty ho-hum about whether or not he really wants to serve in the Senate. He said the primary challenge is not about him, but about facilitating a conversation among Republicans about Collins’ voting record. Bennett said he’d asked several prominent Republicans — he hinted at CD2 contenders Kevin Raye and Bruce Poliquin — to run against Collins, but no one was interested. So the mantle...

The six-term congressman’s announcement in an op-ed column may influence the 2014 election to lead the state. Maine political observers offered early reaction Monday to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud’s announcement that he’s gay, ending years of speculation and potentially sharply changing the dynamic of the 2014 gubernatorial race. Michaud, 57, currently serving his sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, made the disclosure in a column submitted to three of the state’s major news outlets.He said he was making the announcement in response to “the whisper campaigns, insinuations and push polls” that unidentified people have been using to...

HOUSE RACE: Maine senator attends rally to support Scozzafava. BY MARTHA ELLEN CANTON — More than 50 supporters of Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava's campaign for the 23rd Congressional District turned out Saturday at Phoebe's Restaurant to hear U.S. Sen. Susan K. Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., tell them she was the best candidate.