A Democrat who finished behind Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin in the first round of balloting has come from behind to flip the seat in the second of its two U.S. House races.
Election officials declared Jared Golden the winner Thursday after a federal judge denied Poliquin’s request to halt tabulations under Maine’s new voting system.
The outcome was a dramatic reversal in a four-way race.
Poliquin received the most first-place votes on Election Day but additional tallies were required because no one won a majority.
The ranked-choice voting system lets voters rank candidates from first to last on the ballot. It provides for eliminations of last-place candidates and reallocations of votes.
Maine’s election marked the first use of the system in U.S. House and Senate races. A lawsuit by Poliquin contends the system is unconstitutional.
