2024 Maine Republican presidential primary
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The 2024 Maine Republican presidential primary was held on March 5, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 20 delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention were allocated on a winner-take-most basis.[1] The contest was held on Super Tuesday alongside primaries in 14 other states. This was a semi-closed primary where party members may only vote in their respective party's primary, but unenrolled voters may choose a party's primary to participate in. This change in law from Maine's previous closed primary went into effect on May 14, 2022, without Gov. Janet Mills' signature.[2]
On December 28, 2023, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declared that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state's primary ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment due to his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[3] Following the Supreme Courts unanimous decision in Trump v. Anderson that Trump should remain on the ballot, Bellows withdrew the ban.
Electoral system
[edit]As with all statewide elections in Maine since 2016, the primary will take place using ranked-choice voting. However, the Maine Republican Party, which is opposed to ranked-choice voting, has stated that it will disregard the final results if there is an automatic runoff, only recognizing the first round results.[4] If a candidate gets over 50% in the first round, there will be no automatic runoff, but if no candidate gets over 50%, then the last place candidate will be eliminated and their votes distributed to whoever their voters marked as their second choice, and so on, until a candidate reaches over 50%. This could lead to the state recognizing one winner based on the ranked-choice results and the Republican Party recognizing a different one based on whoever won the plurality of votes in the first round.
Chris Christie qualification controversy
[edit]Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie failed to make the Maine primary ballot, as he did not submit the required 2,000 signatures to the Secretary of State by the November 20 deadline. Christie attempted to appeal the decision, but the Maine Superior Court upheld the secretary's ruling.[5]
Attempted disqualification of Trump
[edit]On December 15, 2023, two challenges to Trump's eligibility as a candidate for the primary election via Section 3 of the 14th Amendment were presented to the Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows.[6][7]
On December 28, 2023, Bellows announced Trump's ineligibility in a 34-page ruling,[8] arguing that he "used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters."[9] However, removal from the ballot has been stayed to permit time to appeal.[10] On January 2, 2024, Trump appealed the ruling to the Maine Superior Court, arguing that Bellows is biased and that she has "no legal authority to consider the federal constitutional issues presented by the challengers".[11] Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy did not make a decision on January 17 and instructed Bellows to let the United States Supreme Court first decide its ruling in Trump v. Anderson and to issue a new ruling within 30 days once the Supreme Court ruling is given. Trump remains on the ballot in the meanwhile.[12] Bellows appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on January 19.[13] The Supreme Court ruled on March 4 in favor of keeping Trump on the ballot; Bellows withdrew the ban shortly afterwards.[14]
Candidates
[edit]Official candidates on the ballot
[edit]The following candidates were announced by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State on December 1.[15]
- Ryan Binkley (withdrawn on February 27, 2024)[16]
- Nikki Haley
- Donald Trump
- Doug Burgum (withdrawn on December 4, 2023)[17]
- Vivek Ramaswamy (withdrawn on January 15, 2024)[18]
- Ron DeSantis (withdrawn on January 21, 2024)[19]
Failed to make ballot
[edit]Endorsements
[edit]U.S. Senator
- Susan Collins, (1997–present)[21]
State Representative
- Mike Soboleski, Member of the Maine House of Representatives from the 73rd district (2022–present)[22]
Polling
[edit]| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Liz Cheney |
Ron DeSantis |
Nikki Haley |
Mike Pence |
Mike Pompeo |
Vivek Ramaswamy |
Chris Sununu |
Donald Trump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Research Inc.[23] | Mar 22 – April 22, 2023 | 192 (LV) | – | 10% | 27% | 3% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 59% |
Maine's 2nd congressional district
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Nikki Haley |
Mike Pence |
Other | Undecided | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redrawing of congressional districts after the 2020 redistricting cycle | |||||||||||
| Inauguration of Joe Biden | |||||||||||
| 2020 presidential election | |||||||||||
| SurveyUSA[24] | Jun 30 – July 6, 2020 | 604 (LV) | ± 4.1% | 12% | 30% | 36%[b] | 21% | ||||
Results
[edit]| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 79,034 | 71.92% | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Nikki Haley | 27,912 | 25.40% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron DeSantis (withdrawn) | 1,191 | 1.08% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vivek Ramaswamy (withdrawn) | 440 | 0.40% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Binkley (withdrawn) | 299 | 0.27% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blank ballots | 1,022 | 0.93% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 109,898 | 100.00% | 20 | 0 | 20 |
See also
[edit]- 2024 Maine Democratic presidential primary
- 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries
- 2024 United States presidential election
- 2024 United States presidential election in Maine
- 2024 United States elections
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Maine Republican Presidential Nominating Process". thegreenpapers.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ Meyers, David. "Maine joins list of states with open primaries". The Fulcrum. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (December 28, 2023). "Maine's top election official rules Trump ineligible for 2024 primary ballot". NBC News. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ admin (November 9, 2023). "Maine GOP Will Nullify RCV In Presidential Primary". Maine GOP. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Kazarian, Grace; Woodall, Hunter (December 21, 2023). "Judge keeps Chris Christie off Maine's Republican primary ballot". CBS News. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ Bartow, Adam. "Multiple petitions seek to remove Donald Trump from Maine primary ballot". WMTV.
- ^ Montellaro, Zach (December 15, 2023). "Maine's elections chief publicly grapples with whether 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump". Politico. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ "Maine Secretary of State Decision in Challenge to Trump Presidential Primary Petitions". www.maine.gov. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ "Trump blocked from Maine presidential ballot in 2024". BBC News. December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Freiman, Jordan (December 28, 2023). "Maine secretary of state disqualifies Trump from primary ballot". CBS News. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ Russell, Jenna (January 2, 2024). "Trump Appeals Decision Barring Him From Maine Primary Ballot". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Schonfeld, Zach (January 17, 2024). "Maine judge defers decision on Trump 14th Amendment question until Supreme Court rules". The Hill. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Quinn, Melissa (January 19, 2024). "Maine's top election official asks state supreme court to review Trump ballot eligibility decision". CBS News. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Ella (March 4, 2024). "Maine secretary of state withdraws Trump ballot ban". The Hill. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Ohm, Rachel (December 1, 2023). "Trump and 5 rivals qualify for Republican presidential primary ballot in Maine". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Snyder, Rachel (February 27, 2024). "North Texas CEO, pastor ends 2024 presidential campaign". WFAA. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ Frazier, Kierra (December 4, 2023). "North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum drops presidential bid after failing to qualify for fourth debate". Politico. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Koretski, Katherine (January 15, 2024). "Vivek Ramaswamy drops out of the 2024 presidential race, endorses Trump". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ Hernández, Alec; Dixon, Matt; Burns, Dasha; Allen, Jonathan (January 21, 2024). "Ron DeSantis suspends his presidential bid and endorses Trump". NBC News. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
- ^ Robertson, Nick (December 3, 2023). "Christie, Hutchinson absent from Maine GOP primary ballot". The Hill. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ Shepherd, Michael (March 2, 2024). "Susan Collins backs Nikki Haley over Donald Trump in Maine's Republican primary". Bangor Daily News.
- ^ Kobin, Billy (December 13, 2023). "Republicans vying to face Jared Golden in 2024 split on Donald Trump". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ Digital Research Inc.
- ^ SurveyUSA
- ^ "Tabulations for Elections held in 2024: March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election". Maine Secretary of State. Retrieved March 28, 2024.