Maine Gov. signs off on congressional race results, but calls the election "stolen"
Bangor, Maine-- Maine's outgoing Republican governor is signing off on the results of a disputed congressional contest, but not before getting the last word with a handwritten note calling it a "stolen election." Gov. Paul LePage tweeted Friday that he decided to certify the result because it was no longer being appealed in federal court, CBS Portland affiliate WGME reports.
A federal appeals court filing Friday showed all parties agreed to the dismissal of Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin's lawsuit over the November election without any award of legal fees. The filing makes formal Poliquin's Christmas Eve announcement he'd abandon the suit.
LePage tweeted he signed off on the results despite his dislike of the new ranked voting method. The election marked the first use of the system in a congressional race. Democrat Jared Golden won the election.
I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court. Ranked Choice Voting didn’t result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently. It didn’t keep big money out of politics & didn’t result in a more civil election #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/0fEhD1dvAb
— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) December 28, 2018
Golden responded on Twitter that LePage's comments are "wrong," and "this is yet another attempt by the Maine GOP to undermine the will of Mainers, who twice voted to approve" ranked choice voting.
Not only are the Governor’s comments wrong, this is yet another attempt by the Maine GOP to undermine the will of Mainers, who twice voted to approve RCV. Maine people are tired of this kind of poor leadership — which is why they voted for sweeping change in November. #mepolitics https://t.co/aMDBj1Onnc
— Jared Golden (@golden4congress) December 28, 2018
Golden received fewer votes than Poliquin in the first vote-counting round, but pulled ahead when second-choice ballots were later counted.
Golden will take office on Jan. 3.