2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine: Difference between revisions

The '''2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine''' waswere held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 to elect the two [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representatives]] from the state of [[Maine]], one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections will coincidecoincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including [[2014 Maine gubernatorial election|Governor of Maine]] and [[United States Senate election in Maine, 2014|United States Senate]]. The primary elections were held on June 10, 2014.

The 1st district includes covers the southern coastal area of the state, including all of [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland]], [[Knox County, Maine|Knox]], [[Lincoln County, Maine|Lincoln]], [[Sagadahoc County, Maine|Sagadahoc]] and [[York County, Maine|York]] counties and most of [[Kennebec County, Maine|Kennebec County]]. Located within the district are the cities of [[Portland, Maine|Portland]], [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]], [[Brunswick, Maine|Brunswick]] and [[Saco, Maine|Saco]]. The incumbent Democrat [[Chellie Pingree]], who hashad represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2012, and the district had a [[Cook Partisan Voting Index|PVI]] of D+9.

;StatewideState officials

The 2nd district covers {{convert|27326|sqmi|km2}}, comprising nearly 80% of the state's total land area. It is the [[List of United States congressional districts by area|largest district]] east of the [[Mississippi River]] and the 24th-largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72.11% of its population in rural areas, behind only [[Kentucky's 5th congressional district]]. It includes most of the land area north of the [[Portland, Maine|Portland]] and [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]] metropolitan areas, including the cities of [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]], [[Lewiston, Maine|Lewiston]], [[Auburn, Maine|Auburn]] and [[Presque Isle, Maine|Presque Isle]]. The incumbent Democrat [[Mike Michaud]], who hashad represented the district since 2003, did not seek re-election, and was selected as Democratic nominee for [[Governor of Maine]] in the [[2014 Maine gubernatorial election|2014 election]]. He was re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2012, and the district has a [[Cook Partisan Voting Index|PVI]] of D+2.

* Alden Smith, navyNavy reservist<ref name="twoannounce" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Moretto|first=Mario|url=http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/17/alden-smith-drops-out-leaving-senate-heavyweights-to-vie-for-congressional-nod/|title=Alden Smith drops out, leaving Senate heavyweights to vie for congressional nod|newspaper=[[Bangor Daily News]]|date=March 17, 2014|access-date=March 17, 2014}}</ref>

* [[John Boehner]], [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]], (R-[[Ohio|OH]]) (for general election) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2014/09/17/john-boehner-will-campaign-with-bruce-poliquin/ |title=John Boehner will campaign with Bruce Poliquin |publisher=Bangordailynews.com |date=September 17, 2014 |access-date=September 17, 2014}}</ref>

;StatewideState officials

Bruce Poliquin resisted invitations to debates where Blaine Richardson would be present, including one sponsored by [[MPBN]]. Political observers stated this might have been due to Richardson's potential to [[vote splitting|split the conservative vote]]. Emily Cain expressed support for Richardson being present at debates and said she willwould only attend debates where both of the other candidates arewere present.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2014/07/31/politics/debate-stalemate-looms-as-cain-richardson-take-issues-with-poliquins-attendance-policy/?ref=relatedSidebar|title=Emily Cain, Blaine Richardson take issue with Bruce Poliquin's debate attendance policy |publisher=Bangordailynews.com |date=July 31, 2014 |access-date=July 31, 2014}}</ref> A debate to be held on [[WMTW (TV)|WMTW-TV]] was cancelled after Cain pulled out to protest Richardson not being invited. WMTW said they and their parent company, [[Hearst Television]], had strict criteria for invitations to debates that Richardson did not meet. ThisThese criteria included holding large campaign events, fundraising, and performance in polling, all of which WMTW said were not met.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmtw.com/politics/cain-skipping-from-wmtw-debate/29300796|title=Cain skipping WMTW debate |publisher=wmtw.com |date=October 23, 2014 |access-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref>

On August 29, Richardson revealed, and Poliquin's campaign confirmed, that Richardson had rejected a request from Poliquin to quit the race. A Poliquin spokesman stated the phone call was made because Richardson hashad "no chance" to win and "seemsseemed "more interested in working with Emily Cain to bash Bruce rather than have a discussion about the future". Richardson said he would stay in the race and he was "so fed up with the parties, both of them". He also said that Poliquin asking him to quit washad been one of the biggest boosts for his campaign it has seen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2014/08/29/fed-up-richardson-rejects-poliquin-call-to-quit-congressional-campaign/|title='Fed up' Richardson rejects Poliquin call to quit congressional campaign|publisher=Bangordailynews.com |date=August 29, 2014 |access-date=August 30, 2014}}</ref>

*[[Sherry Huber]], former Statestate legislator, former candidate for Governorgovernor<ref name=gopforcain />