Adrienne Bennett and Eric Brakey conceded Maine’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary to Dale Crafts. As of 4 p.m. Eastern Time on July 15, Crafts had received 44.7% of the vote. Bennett received 32.5%, and Brakey, 22.9%.
Since Maine uses ranked-choice voting, Crafts would have needed more than 50% of the vote to win on the first round of vote tabulation without the other candidates’ concessions. The race will advance to a second round of vote tabulation, where the votes of those who chose Brakey as their first-choice candidate will be redistributed to those voters’ second-choice candidates.
Crafts will face Jared Golden (D), who defeated incumbent Bruce Poliquin (R) in 2018. It was the first congressional election ever decided by ranked-choice voting.
