The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

: *

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

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the: *

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

* State House of Representatives * State delegation to the U.S. Senate * State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives For years in which a

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

History

The Republican Party controlled the governorship from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

to 1932, with the Democratic Party only winning four times. The

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...

was active in Maine and its gubernatorial candidates had their vote totals rise from 520 votes in the 1876 election to 41,371 votes in the 1878 election. The Greenbacks aided in the election of Democratic gubernatorial nominees Alonzo Garcelon and Harris M. Plaisted. The Democratic Party did not control the state legislature between 1847 and 1911. The

Maine Republican Party The Maine Republican Party is an affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Maine. It was founded in Strong, Maine, on August 7, 1854. The party currently does not control the governor's office or either chamber of the Maine Legislatur ...

supported

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

during the 1912 Republican presidential primaries against President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

. The Maine Progressive Party was founded by Roosevelt supporters on July 31, 1912, at a convention in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. The Republicans were weakened after losing members including Charles H. Hitchborn, who was the treasurer of the party, although Warren C. Philbrook, the chair of the party, remained.

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

won Maine in the

while Roosevelt received more votes than Taft. On April 5, 1916, the Progressives held their convention and nominated Edwin Lawrence for governor under the coniditon that they would follow the path of the national party. The national Progressive Party attempted to nominate Roosevelt for president against, but he declined and the party returned to the Republicans. The Maine Progressives withdrew their candidates and supported the Republicans. B. F. Lawrence, who ran for a seat in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

, was the only Progressive elected in 1916, but later joined the Republicans.

Robert M. La Follette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

, who ran as the Progressive presidential nominee in the 1924 election, told Gilbert E. Roe, who was running his campaign in the eastern United States, that the conditions for his campaigns were good in the eastern United States except for in Maine and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Republican nominee

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

received over 70% of the popular vote while La Follette only received six percent.

Table

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Party Strength In Maine Politics of Maine Government of Maine

History

Table

See also

References