The Maine Secretary of State completed a ranked-choice voting tabulation on November 12, 2026, confirming Republican Paul LePage as the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District. Final round results gave LePage 170,890 votes, or 50.81%. He defeated Democrat Matthew Dunlap, who finished with 165,432 votes, or 49.18%.
The open seat had been held by retiring Democratic Representative Jared Golden. Election night returns gave LePage 170,263 first-choice votes, or 49.894%, compared with 164,845 votes, or 48.307%, for Dunlap. State officials triggered an instant-runoff count on November 5. First-round totals also included 123 votes for declared write-in candidates and 6,017 blank ballots.
In a November 13 analysis, nonpartisan reform group FairVote summarized the formal wrap-up in Augusta. "On Thursday, November 12, the Maine Secretary of State completed a ranked choice voting (RCV) tally to determine the winner of the 2nd Congressional District race," FairVote reported. Once blank ballots were removed, LePage already held 50.63% of remaining first-choice votes before write-ins were eliminated. Reallocating second choices from eliminated write-in ballots added 180 votes for LePage and 254 for Dunlap. In total, LePage gained 627 net votes over election night, while Dunlap gained 587. FairVote noted that 68.4% of ballots without a valid first choice did not count toward any candidate in subsequent rounds.
Maine has used ranked-choice voting in federal general elections since 2018. A 2024 poll found 82% of Mainers consider the system easy, while 57% liked ranking candidates. State election officials noted that the November 12 figures remain unofficial until transmitted to Governor Janet Mills. Certified final results will be posted within 20 days of Election Day. Maine's 2nd District result closes one of the final uncertified House races from the November 3 general election.
