Outgoing Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage certified a contested House race Friday, but he didn’t do it without complaint.
“I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court,” LePage tweeted, sharing a photo of the certificate annotated with the phrase “stolen election.” “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.”
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
LePage’s move comes after Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, dropped his legal challenge to the ranked-choice voting process in the state and conceded to his Democratic opponent, Rep.-elect Jared Golden, on Christmas Eve. Poliquin, a two-term congressman for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, won more total votes than Golden in the first count but was not the majority leader. Poliquin then lost to Golden in a second round of tabulation in which ballots for trailing candidates went toward voters’ second choice.
After eight years in Maine’s governor’s mansion, LePage, 70, was barred from seeking re-election due to term limits. As the end of his time in office approached, he announced he would be moving to Florida because taxation was lower there.
He will be replaced in January by Democratic state Attorney General Janet Mills. She will be Maine’s first female governor and the first Democrat to hold statewide office in more than a decade.
LePage leaves his position after gaining a reputation for stirring controversy. In 2016, he left a state lawmaker an expletive-laden voicemail in response to accusations he was a racist. That same year, LePage said drug dealers impregnate “white girls” and that more than 90 percent of drug dealers arrested in Maine were black or Hispanic.
