The 2010 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. During hi ...

was term-limited and unable to seek re-election.

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s took place on June 8, 2010. The candidates who appeared on the November ballot were (in alphabetical order by last name):

Eliot Cutler Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is a former American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing ...

(Independent),

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 74th Governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, LePage served two terms as a city councilor in Waterville, Maine, before being ...

(Republican),

Libby Mitchell Elizabeth H. Mitchell (born Elizabeth Anne Harrill on June 22, 1940) is an American politician from Maine. Mitchell, a Democrat, represented part of Kennebec County in the Maine Senate from 2004 to 2010. Mitchell was also the Democrats' 2010 ...

(Democrat),

Shawn Moody The 2018 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next Governor of Maine. It occurred along with elections for the United States Senate election in Maine, 2018, U.S. Senate, United States House of Representatives ...

(Independent), and Kevin Scott (Independent). With 94% of precincts reporting on the day after the election, the ''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'' declared LePage the winner, carrying 38.1% of the votes. Cutler was in second place with 36.7% of the votes (less than 7,500 votes behind LePage), while Mitchell was a distant third with 19%. Moody and Scott had 5% and 1%, respectively. Two days after the election, with 99% of precincts reporting, LePage's lead over Cutler had widened to more than 10,000 votes. This election was the first since

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

that Republicans won a gubernatorial election in Maine.

Democratic primary

Candidates

On ballot

* Patrick K. McGowan, former State Conservation Commissioner * Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell, President of the Maine Senate and candidate for U. S. Senate in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

* Steven Rowe, former

Maine Attorney General The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the State of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by the Maine ...

and former state representative *Rosa Scarcelli, business owner

Write-in

*Donna Dion, former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures, but continued her campaign in the primary as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

Withdrawn

*Dawn Hill,

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

. Hill withdrew from the race on January 1, 2010, citing the crowded field of candidates. *

John G. Richardson John G. Richardson (June 29, 1957 – June 16, 2020) was an American politician and consultant from Maine. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he served as Maine's Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the Speaker of ...

, former Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and former Speaker of the House. Richardson withdrew from the race on April 26 amid allegations that some of his campaign workers had not followed proper procedures for collecting donations to qualify him for Maine Clean Election funding. The primary ballots had already been printed before Richardson withdrew from the race, so Richardson's name appeared on the ballot even though he was no longer a candidate. *Peter Truman (also known as Peter Throumoulos), former state representative and convicted

forger Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures.

Declined

*Brian Bolduc, state representative * Tom Allen, former U.S. Representative

Polling

Results

At 11:32 p.m. EDT,

WCSH WCSH (channel 6) is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Congress Square in Downtown Portland, and its transmitter is located on Winn Mountain in ...

declared Libby Mitchell the winner of the Democratic primary.

Republican primary

Candidates

On ballot

* Steve Abbott, former chief of staff for

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...

* William Beardsley, former president of

Husson University Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2020 had a total enrollment of 3,476 students, including 799 graduate students in master's and doctoral programs. Husson Un ...

* Matt Jacobson, president of Maine & Company, a private business attraction organization; former President of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad *

, Mayor of Waterville and general manager of Marden's Surplus & Salvage store chain * Peter Mills,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

and candidate for governor in 2006 *

Les Otten Leslie B. "Les" Otten (born 1949) is the former CEO of the American Skiing Company. Since resigning as its chief executive officer in 2001, Otten has been involved in numerous other businesses and industries, including the Major League Baseball ...

, founder of

American Skiing Company American Skiing Company was one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts included Sunday River and Sugarloaf, in Maine, The Canyons in Utah, Killington, Mount Snow, Haystack, Heavenl ...

and former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

co-owner *

Bruce Poliquin Bruce Lee Poliquin (; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Maine's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. Poliquin ...

, business owner/manager and economist

Declined

Peter Cianchette Peter Ernest Cianchette (born June 25, 1961) is an American diplomat, businessman, politician and former United States Ambassador to Costa Rica from 2008 to 2009. He was elected to the Maine House of Representatives and served there from 1996 to 2 ...

United States Ambassador to Costa Rica The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Costa Rica. On February 16, 2022, Cynthia Telles was sworn in as the 60th ambassador to the Republic of Costa Rica. See also * Costa Rica – United States re ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Republican nominee for governor *

Kevin Raye Kevin L. Raye (born February 7, 1961) is an American politician. Raye is a member of the Republican Party and served as a member of the Maine Senate, representing the 29th district in northeastern Washington County from December 2004 to Decemb ...

, State Senate Minority Leader *

Josh Tardy Joshua "Josh" Abraham Tardy (born 1968) is an American politician and attorney from Maine. A Maine Republican Party, Republican, Tardy served in the Maine House of Representatives from the 125th and 25th districts from 2002 to 2010, including two ...

, State House Minority Leader

Polling

Results

At 11:19 p.m. EDT,

declared Paul LePage the winner of the GOP primary.

Independents

Candidates on the ballot

, attorney, former staff member for U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie, and former adviser to President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, business owner *Kevin L. Scott, business owner

Write-in candidates

* John Jenkins, former state senator, former mayor of both

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

and Lewiston, and a 2002 gubernatorial candidate. Jenkins, who won his most recent mayoral campaign by write-in, declared he would run for Governor of Maine if 5,000 people followed his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

fan page within 45 days. *Beverly Cooper-Pete. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures, but continued her campaign as a write-in candidate.

Disqualified candidates

*Alex Hammer, business owner and self-published author.Alex Hammer for Maine Governor (official candidate web site)
/ref> Did not appear on the ballot due to not meeting the deadline for turning in petition signatures. Hammer attempted to turn in some of the signatures electronically, but the Secretary of State ruled that such methods were not allowed. Hammer filed suit to appear on the ballot in Penobscot County Superior Court on June 28, 2010. On September 28, 2010, the judge upheld the Secretary of State's decision.

Withdrawn

*Samme Bailey. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures. *Augustus Edgerton. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures. *Michael Heath, former leader of the

Christian Civic League of Maine The Christian Civic League of Maine is a political lobbying group founded to support prohibition of alcohol and later advocating for various conservative Christian policies in the government of the US state of Maine. It is the Focus on the Family ...

(now known as the Maine Family Policy Council). Withdrew from the race due to lack of petition signatures. *John Whitcomb. Did not appear on the ballot due to lack of petition signatures.

Maine Green Independent Party

The

Maine Green Independent Party The Maine Green Independent Party is a state-level political party affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is the oldest state green party in the United States. It was founded following an informal meeting of 17 environmental ...

did not have a gubernatorial candidate on the ballot, as no candidate collected required number of signatures.

Withdrawn

* Lynne Williams, attorney and former state chair of the Maine Green Independent Party. On March 15, 2010, Lynne Williams announced her withdrawal from the campaign, citing a lack of clean elections funds and qualifying signatures. *

Patrick Quinlan Patrick Quinlan may refer to: * Patrick Quinlan (author), American author and political activist * Patrick Quinlan (cricketer) (1891–1935), Australian cricketer * Patrick Quinlan (politician) (died 2001), Irish academic and politician * Patrick L ...

, political activist, author, and lone legislative aide of

caucus in state House of Representatives for 2004 and 2005; former

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

and consultant for Green state representative

John Eder John Eder (born January 18, 1969) is an American activist and politician from Maine. Eder, a Democrat, lives in Biddeford. He is a former member of the Maine Green Independent Party, the Maine affiliate of the national Green Party. He served i ...

General election

Predictions

Polling

''* Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott, two Independent candidates who appeared on the ballot, were not offered as choices in the Rasmussen polls.''

Results

References

External links

Maine Secretary of State – Elections DivisionMaine Governor Candidates
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Campaign contributions for 2010 Maine Governor
from ''Follow the Money''

from OurCampaigns.com
2010 Maine Gubernatorial General Election: Paul LePage (R) vs Libby Mitchell (D)
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Maine Governor
from ''

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

''
2010 Maine Governor – LePage vs. Mitchell vs. Cutler
from ''

Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political ...

''
2010 Maine Governor's Race
from ''

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

''
Race Profile
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2010 United States gubernatorial elections