With Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) not seeking re-election, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the district from Toss Up to Leans Republican.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced he’ll run for re-election instead of seeking higher office, WMTW reports.

Associated Press: “In a race that will help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden will defend his seat against Republican former Rep. Bruce Poliquin and independent candidate Tiffany Bond. The race is a rematch for Golden and Poliquin, who ran for the same seat in 2018, when Golden emerged victorious by a razor-thin margin.”

“The appeal of Trump-style politics has grown in the district since then despite the fact it is represented by Golden, a moderate Democrat. Poliquin, who represented the 2nd District as a moderate Republican from 2014 to 2018, has shifted his own messaging rightward to try to take advantage of those headwinds.”

“The result is a race that could be an indicator of Trump’s continued influence on swing districts and rural politics.”

“Outgoing Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) finally certified the victory of Rep.-elect Jared Golden (D) in the state’s 2nd Congressional District on Friday, nearly two months after the Nov. 6 election — but not without taking one last dig at the state’s new ranked-choice voting process, which he and other state Republicans have long refused to accept,” the HuffPost reports.

“In the photo of his certification, the governor appears to have written ‘stolen election’ next to his signature, referring to his complaints about ranked-choice voting.”

Jared Golden (D) was declared the winner of Maine’s 2nd congressional district race over Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) following a historic tabulation of ballots using ranked-choice voting, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“This is the first time in U.S. history that a congressional race was decided using ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to cast ballots for their favorite candidate but also rank other candidates in order of preference. Those ranked-choice votes only come into play, however, when no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote on the initial tally.”

Roll Call notes there are no GOP congressmen left in New England.

A federal judge rejected Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s (R-ME) request to force the Maine Secretary of State to stop the ranked-choice run-off on Thursday morning, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“Less than an hour earlier, elections officials finished scanning all of the remaining ballots that were cast in the Nov. 6 election and announced plans to run the results through the ranked-choice software.”

“A federal judge said he will not decide until Thursday whether to intervene in the legal dispute over Maine’s 2nd congressional district race, setting the stage for a potential ranked-choice vote count on Wednesday,” the Portland Press Herald reports.

“That may give Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office time to determine the ranked-choice winner before any potential court order to stop the process.”

Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) “filed a federal lawsuit against Maine’s Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap in an attempt to stop a tabulation of ranked-choice ballots in his race against challenger Jared Golden (D),” the Portland Press Herald reports.

“Neither Poliquin nor Golden secured a majority of the vote in the first round of counting, pushing the tabulation to voters’ second choices in an attempt to determine which candidate has the support of more than 50 percent of voters.”

“Poliquin’s suit claims the use of ranked-choice voting violates the U.S. Constitution because the document ‘sets a plurality vote as the qualification for election’ to Congress.”

Exit polls by the Bangor Daily News find Jared Golden (D) is favored to beat Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) in a ranked-choice voting count that could decide the tight race in the 2nd congressional district.

“It means the spotlight is now on the 8% of voters who picked a nonpartisan candidate as their first choice in the 2nd district race. Their later-round choices between Golden and Poliquin likely will decide the election… Though Poliquin has a lead now, that crucial group of independent voters leans heavily toward Golden.”