LEWISTON — The governor’s race, the bear baiting referendum and a local vote on legalizing marijuana seemed to drive local voters to the polls Tuesday.
Of 13,680 ballots cast Tuesday in Lewiston, 13,504 — nearly 99 percent of voters in the city — filled out the bubble on their ballot to vote in the governor’s race.
Contrast that with the race for district attorney, in which 3,363 voters didn’t fill in the bubble.
That’s the way it goes sometimes, City Clerk Kathy Montejo said. Big issues tend to drive voters to the polls, but it doesn’t mean that every voter is going to vote on every issue.
“You always have people who came out just for one issue,” Montejo said. “We had a lot of people register to vote for the very first time this election, people who lived in Lewiston for 10, 20, 30 years but never voted. But they came out on Tuesday because of issues they were passionate about.”
Voter turnout was 55 percent. For the governor’s race, 98.7 percent voted and on the legalizing marijuana question, 98 percent voted.
A statewide referendum on bear baiting and the U.S. Senate race between Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Shenna Bellows were voted on by 97.2 percent of voters.
The most popular races in Auburn were much the same, minus the marijuana vote: 99.3 voted in the governor’s race, 98.7 voted on the bear referendum and 98.6 voted on the U.S. Senate race.
In Lewiston, wards 1, 3 and 5 trended toward Democratic issues. They voted against a repeal of a downtown housing project, in favor of legal marijuana and in favor of a ban on bear baiting. Those wards also came down in favor of Democratic candidates Emily Cain, for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Mike Michaud for governor.
Wards 1 and 3 are home to Bates College and its students. Ward 5 is the downtown section around Kennedy Park.
Wards 2, 4, 6 and 7 voted for the housing repeal and against marijuana. They also voted to re-elect Republican Gov. Paul LePage and for Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Bruce Poliquin.
Voters in Auburn’s five wards were consistent in their support for LePage’s re-election but were split in other races. Ward 2 was the only one to support Cain in the House of Representatives race, while Wards 1 and 2 narrowly supported the bear baiting ban.
All wards in both Lewiston and Auburn supported Republican Susan Collins’ re-election to the U.S. Senate.
Cain, with support in Lewiston wards 1, 3 and 5 and Auburn’s Ward 2, combined with a strong showing among absentee ballots, won in the Twin Cities.
Auburn Wards: How they voted
Lewiston Wards: How they voted
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- Lewiston City Clerk Kathy Montejo, second from left, and Deputy City Clerk Kelly Brooks, right, hand over ballots to Maine State Troopers Corey Huckins, left, and Matt Griffin in the basement of City Hall in Lewiston on Friday. A request has been made to recount the ballots in the state Senate District 21 race between Democrat Nate Libby and Republican Patti Gagne. Montejo said 13,680 ballots that were cast, as well as the unused ballots, have been turned over to the Secretary of State’s Office in Augusta. The recount will probably be within the next two weeks, Montejo said. Unofficial results showed Libby won the Senate seat by 64 votes Tuesday.
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- Lewiston Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau loads cast ballots into an unmarked Maine State Police van in Lewiston on Friday. The ballots will be stored at Maine State Police headquarters in Augusta until the recount.
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