Nothing says the end of fall like setting the clocks back an hour and the return of the regular, annoying television ads instead of the barrage of political hatchet jobs we’ve been subjected to the past few weeks.

So, happily, it’s Election Day — and hopefully by day’s end, we will know who Maine’s governor will be for the next four years.

Voters will also pick up and down the line — the next U.S. senator, members to the U.S. House, sheriffs and probate clerks, as well as settle local ballot questions on marijuana and housing in Lewiston.

It’s been a wild election cycle and with so much focus on the three-way race for the governor’s office, races for seats in the Maine Legislature may have been overlooked.

For certain, key to the next governor’s success — whether he is a Democrat, a Republican or an independent — will exist in the composition of the state’s Legislature. By most predictions, it appears poised to move to the right — if not in a wholesale way, then by a significant increment.

While the top-of-the-ticket races will feature prominently in Tuesday night’s newscasts, news websites and in the headlines of Wednesday’s newspapers, the lawmakers sent to Augusta by voters in 35 state Senate districts and 151 local House districts will collectively become our next governor’s rubber stamp, collaborative partner or roadblock. Hopefully voters will pick as carefully among these candidates as they do the top-of-the-ticket political “rock stars.”

Even a slightly more conservative Senate would spell trouble for a Gov. Mike Michaud administration, while it would be a relief to a second-term Gov. Paul LePage. For a Gov. Eliot Cutler, a shift to the center would be preferred. Both bodies are held by Democrats, but the Senate is more closely divided, with several key seats on the line.

Voters may also want to consider that a first-term governor usually faces more resistance from the opposition party, as it works to undermine his record for a re-election run.

A second-term governor will often find relief from the attacks of the opposition, because they know he cannot seek a third term under the state’s Constitution. It also means pathways to compromise become more likely and logical as a second-term governor works to establish his so-called “legacy.” 

And while it will be interesting to watch how all this plays out, ultimately who goes to the Blaine House for the next four years and the Legislature for the next two has enormous implications for Maine’s 1.3 million people, and for the direction the state will take in the new year and beyond.

Get out there, vote and be part of it.

sthistle@sunjournal.com

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