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Dale Crafts, Endorsed By Paul LePage, Leads Maine 2nd District Poll

July 13, 2020

In the Maine’s Second Congressional District, a primary is set for Tuesday, July 14 for a seat that Republicans have a shot at winning in November.

After the election, Mainers will find out who they have going up against incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Jared Golden this upcoming November. Their options are former state senator Eric Brakey, former Paul LePage press secretary Adrienne Bennett, and former state representative Dale Crafts.

Survey USA put out a poll last week and it showed Crafts leading the race with 37 percent of first choice votes, followed by Bennett (25 percent), and Brakey (19 percent). The margin of error is 4.1 percent.

Crafts has the endorsement of former Maine Governor Paul LePage. Bennett is the former governor’s former spokesman. Brakey presents himself as a libertarian.

Since 19 percent of voters had not decided who their first choice was and since Maine uses ranked-choice voting — where voters’ second choice in this race could matter, as well — it’s difficult to say who will win the primary.

Before Golden took the seat in 2018, Republican Bruce Poliquin represented the district. Poliquin got a plurality of votes in 2018, but less than a majority, and he lost the seat because of the state’s new system of ranked-choice voting, in which the second selections of two third-party candidates put Golden over the top.