Maine is one of a handful of states that use Ranked Choice Voting, where voters rank in order of preference who they would like to see win. In this case, when the bottom candidates were eliminated, their votes were reallocated to their second and third choices until a remaining candidate received over 50 percent.

Representative Jared Golden, a three-term Democrat, defeated Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, in one of a handful of districts held by Democrats that Donald J. Trump won in 2020.

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden won the ranked choice vote with 50.35% for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which election officials determined Friday through a tabulation process that took four days.

The campaign for Republican Austin Theriault immediately requested a hand recount, meaning the winner likely won't be officially declared until December.

The toss-up race between Democratic Rep. Jared Golden and Republican state Rep. Austin Theriault is headed for a ranked choice tabulation after neither candidate received a majority of first-choice votes,

Republican Austin Theriault failed to unseat Golden, despite the Democrat's support for an assault weapons ban.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden won reelection to Congress through Maine’s ranked choice system on Friday. It’s the third time in four elections in the hotly contested district that Golden won after votes were retabulated because first choices failed to produce a majority for any candidate.