The 2024 Maine Republican presidential primary was held on March 5, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 20 delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention were allocated on a winner-take-most basis. The contest was held on

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...

alongside primaries in 14 other states. This was a semi-closed primary where party members may only vote in their respective party's primary, but unenrolled voters may choose a party's primary to participate in. This change in law from Maine's previous closed primary went into effect on May 14, 2022, without Gov.

Janet Mills Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 75th governor of Maine since January 2019. She previously served as the Maine Attorney General on two occasions. A member of the Democratic Pa ...

' signature. On December 28, 2023, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declared that

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

is ineligible to appear on the state's primary ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment due to his role in the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then- U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in p ...

. Following the Supreme Courts unanimous decision in Trump v. Anderson that Trump should remain on the ballot, Bellows withdrew the ban.

Electoral system

As with all statewide elections in Maine since

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, the primary will take place using ranked-choice voting. However, the Maine Republican Party, which is opposed to ranked-choice voting, has stated that it will disregard the final results if there is an automatic runoff, only recognizing the first round results. If a candidate gets over 50% in the first round, there will be no automatic runoff, but if no candidate gets over 50%, then the last place candidate will be eliminated and their votes distributed to whoever their voters marked as their second choice, and so on, until a candidate reaches over 50%. This could lead to the state recognizing one winner based off the ranked-choice results and the Republican Party recognizing a different one based on whoever won the plurality of votes in the first round.

Chris Christie qualification controversy

Former

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

failed to make the Maine primary ballot, as he did not submit the required 2,000 signatures to the Secretary of State by the November 20 deadline. Christie attempted to appeal the decision, but the

Maine Superior Court The Maine Superior Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction in the Maine state court system. All state jury trials are held in the Superior Court. The court is located in each of Maine's 16 counties (with two locations in Aroostook Coun ...

upheld the secretary's ruling.

Attempted disqualification of Trump

On December 15, 2023, two challenges to Trump's eligibility as a candidate for the primary election via Section 3 of the 14th Amendment were presented to the Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows. On December 28, 2023, Bellows announced Trump's ineligibility in a 34-page ruling, arguing that he "used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters." However, removal from the ballot has been stayed to permit time to appeal. On January 2, 2024, Trump appealed the ruling to the

, arguing that Bellows is biased and that she has "no legal authority to consider the federal constitutional issues presented by the challengers". Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy did not make a decision on January 17 and instructed Bellows to let the United States Supreme Court first decide its ruling in Trump v. Anderson and to issue a new ruling within 30 days once the Supreme Court ruling is given. Trump remains on the ballot in the meanwhile. Bellows appealed to the

Maine Supreme Judicial Court The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. From 1820 until 1839, justices served lifetime a ...

on January 19. The Supreme Court ruled on March 4 in favor of keeping Trump on the ballot; Bellows withdrew the ban shortly afterwards.

Candidates

Official candidates on the ballot

The following candidates were announced by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State on December 1. * Ryan Binkley (withdrawn on February 27, 2024) * Nikki Haley *

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum (born August 1, 1956) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and politician serving as the 33rd governor of North Dakota since 2016. He is a member of the Republican Party. Burgum was born and raised in the small to ...

(withdrawn on December 4, 2023) *

Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur in the healthcare and technology sectors, a political commentator, and a ''New York Times'' bestselling author. In 2022, he founded Strive Asset Management and currently serves as t ...

(withdrawn on January 15, 2024) *

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Repres ...

(withdrawn on January 21, 2024)

Failed to make ballot

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

Endorsements

Results

Polling

;Maine's 2nd congressional district

Notes

References

{{2024 Republican primaries Maine Republican caucuses Republican presidential caucuses

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...