AUGUSTA, MAINE - Showing an independent streak in keeping with Maine’s political tradition, Sen. Rick Bennett (R–Oxford) broke ranks with his party this week to join 91 Democrats in supporting a bill that would finally fulfill the will of Maine voters: implementing ranked choice voting (RCV) in all state general elections.

On June 10, the Maine Senate approved the measure in a 20–14 vote. The following day, the House narrowly passed it by a 72–70 margin. If signed into law, the bill—LD 1666—would mark the culmination of a historic, decade-long effort to expand RCV beyond federal and primary contests to include races for governor and the state legislature.

Even More Choice for Maine?

The official summary of the bill states:

This bill provides for ranked-choice voting for general and special elections for the offices of Governor, State Senator and State Representative and clarifies the definition of "ranked-choice voting" by changing the use of the terms "vote" and "ballot," and provides that the winner of an election in which ranked-choice voting is conducted is the winner by a plurality of the votes.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Cameron D. Reny, (D - Lincoln) and had seven cosponsors, including, Rep. Laura D. Supica (D - Bangor), Senate President Matthea Daughtry (D - Cumberland), Sen. Craig Hickman, (D - Kennebec), Rep. Matt Moonen (D - Portland), Sen. Teresa S. Pierce (D - Cumberland), Sen. Nicole Grohoski (D - Hancock), and Senator Michael Tipping, (D - Penobscot).

A Ten-Year Fight for Voter Choice

Maine voters first passed Ranked Choice Voting in November 2016 through a citizen initiative meant to apply to all state and federal primary and general elections, with the exception of presidential elections. But in 2017, Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau, seeking to repeal the voter-initiated law, made an unprecedented procedural request for a solemn occasion on existing Maine law, seeking to draw the judicial branch into a political debate that had already been settled by Maine people.

Thibodeau’s move worked. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court issuance of an advisory opinion stating that the voting method could not be used to elect a governor, state senator or state representative, using reasoning that the Maine Constitution says those offices are to be elected by plurality.  The court advised that the method could be used in other elections, including federal races and state-level primaries.

The Law Court decision triggered politicians in the state legislature, from both political parties, to vote to overturn the will of the voters by delaying and repealing RCV on October 17, 2017. 

Despite voters overflowing committee rooms to testify in support of ranked choice voting, thousands of calls to legislators, over 100 letters to the editor, the biggest newspapers in Maine calling on lawmakers to uphold the will of voters, and one of its biggest opponents changing his mind about full repeal, state lawmakers instead decided to go against the will of their constituents.

That vote, cast in the middle of the night, resulted in the initiation of a People’s Veto campaign to partially reject what they had done and preserve some parts of the original law.

On June 12, 2018 — seven years ago — Maine voters once again made their voices heard, protecting RCV through a second referendum and using it for the first time that very same day. It marked the first time RCV was used in a statewide election. 

It was also clear that independents voting in the June 12, 2018, election made all the difference in its success.

RCV has been used in every federal and state primary and every federal general election in Maine since that day and has also been used in Presidential primary elections and Presidential general elections since 2020.  As Maine’s Senate President, Troy Jackson, now a candidate for governor, wrote the law that made Maine the first state in the nation to use ranked choice voting for President.

Alaska Follows Maine and Expands Reform Further to Open Primaries

On November 3, 2020, Maine voters became the first in the nation to rank our choices for president. That same day, Alaska voters passed a nonpartisan open primary initiative that allowed voters to rank 4 candidates in the general election. Scott Kendall, leader of the Alaska effort, had been inspired not only by Maine’s success but also by Katherine Gehl, the author of The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy and co-Chair of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, who posited that ranked choice voting was not enough on its own. It needed to be combined with open, nonpartisan primaries. In 2020, Alaskans voted to open their primary elections to all voters, regardless of party, and then to send the top 4 candidates to the general election ballot where voters could rank all, or some, of the candidates.

Alaska State Court, Unconvinced by Maine SJC, Allows More Choice Voting

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled on October 21, 2022 that RCV elections comply with plurality requirements, and their decision even stated that they believe the Maine Supreme Court got this question wrong in the 2017 advisory opinion.

In 2025, Maine is Following Alaska

The Portland Press Herald’s Randy Billings reported on June 11 that Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, defended the constitutionality of LD 1666, saying the 2017 Maine advisory opinion about the meaning of the word plurality in a state constitution was dismissed by Alaska's Supreme Court. 

“The Alaska Supreme Court compellingly took apart the Law Court's opinion and demonstrated the flaw of its reasoning," said Lee. "This legislative change would align us with how the Federal Elections Commission and other federal courts and the Alaska Supreme Court have come to understand ranked choice voting -- not as multiple votes but as a single iterative process."

The Maine Law Court’s advisory opinion was explained by Billings to be “premised on the idea that a candidate must win in the first round, while Alaska's court ruled that the vote is not completed until the final round."

It refines the statutory language that each ranking is not a separate vote, but rather a single expressive vote, counted through successive rounds, until one candidate earns a plurality," Rep. Adam Lee said. "Let's follow the reasoned path laid out by the Alaska court and the will of our constituents and move forward with a voting system that reflects both legal soundness and democratic values.

While Maine did successfully implement RCV for federal races and all primaries, including President of the United States, its use in general elections for state offices like governor remained off the table — until now.

Republican Senator Has Also Broken with His Party on Super PAC Reform

Senator Bennett also supported "Citizens to End Super PACs," a nonpartisan campaign that resulted in the passage of Maine’s Question 1 on November 5, 2024. This citizen's initiative capped individual contributions to super PACs that make independent expenditures for candidates at $5,000 per donor annually. On Election Day, Question 1 passed with an overwhelming 74.9% of the vote—the highest level of support for any citizen initiative in Maine’s history.  The measure got more votes (600,191) than any initiative in the history of Maine. Question 1 was the only statewide measure in the country in 2024 that focused on campaign finance reform. 

When a lawsuit was filed to stop Maine from implementing the law, Senator Bennett became an intervenor in the case to protect the will of the people as expressed in a free and fair election.

The Supreme Court has never addressed whether Super PACs are constitutionally mandated. The people of Maine, by supporting this initiative, have given the Court a chance to address the question.

Fulfilling the Voters’ Will

This week’s vote in Maine is not just a policy shift — it’s a symbolic milestone. Seven years to the week since that historic People’s Veto campaign protected RCV for federal offices, Maine legislators from both parties have voted to align state law with the original will of the voters. The bill would restore the full vision of the 2016 initiative. This change ensures that winners of elections in Maine will have true majority support and that voters can rank candidates without fear of “spoiling” the race.

What’s Next?

The RCV expansion bill now awaits final procedural steps and the governor’s decision. If signed into law, Maine legislators will have completed one of the most persistent and people-driven RCV efforts in U.S. history — setting a new precedent for honoring the legacy of voter-powered reform. As the rest of the country watches, one thing is clear: Maine people continue to be at the forefront of giving voters more voice, more power, and more choice.