2024 Maine Republican presidential primary
March 5, 2024
20 Republican National Convention delegates
 
Candidate Ron DeSantis Nikki Haley Donald Trump
Home state Florida South Carolina Florida

The 2024 Maine Republican presidential primary will be held on March 5, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 20 delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention will be allocated on a winner-take-most basis.[1] The contest will be held on Super Tuesday alongside primaries in 14 other states. This will be a semi-closed primary where party members may only vote in their respective party's primary, but unenrolled voters may choose a party's primary to participate in. This change in law from Maine's previous closed primary went into effect on May 14, 2022, without Gov. Janet Mills' signature.[2]

On December 28, 2023, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declared that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state's primary ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment due to his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[3] On January 2, 2024, Trump appealed the ruling to the Maine Superior Court, arguing that Bellows is biased and that she has "no legal authority to consider the federal constitutional issues presented by the challengers".[4]

Electoral system

As with all statewide elections in Maine since 2016, the primary will take place using ranked-choice voting. However, the Maine Republican Party, which is opposed to ranked-choice voting, has stated that it will disregard the final results if there is an automatic runoff, only recognizing the first round results.[5] If a candidate gets over 50% in the first round, there will be no automatic runoff, but if no candidate gets over 50%, then the last place candidate will be eliminated and their votes distributed to whoever their voters marked as their second choice, and so on, until a candidate reaches over 50%. This could lead to the state recognizing one winner based off the ranked-choice results and the Republican Party recognizing a different one based on whoever won the plurality of votes in the first round.

Chris Christie qualification controversy

Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie failed to make the Maine primary ballot, as he did not submit the required 2,000 signatures to the Secretary of State by the November 20 deadline. Christie attempted to appeal the decision, but the Maine Superior Court upheld the secretary's ruling. Christie still has the option of filing as a write-in candidate by December 26.[6]

Donald Trump qualification controversy

On December 15, 2023, two challenges to Trump's eligibility as a candidate for the primary election via Section 3 of the 14th Amendment were presented to the Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows.[7][8]

On December 28, 2023, Bellows announced Trump's ineligibility in a 34-page ruling,[9] arguing that he "used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters."[10] However, removal from the ballot has been stayed to permit time to appeal.[11]

Candidates

Official candidates on the ballot

The following candidates were announced by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State on December 1.[12]

Failed to make ballot

Endorsements

Donald Trump
State Representative
Declined to endorse
U.S. Senator

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Liz
Cheney		 Ron
DeSantis		 Nikki
Haley		 Mike
Pence		 Mike
Pompeo		 Vivek
Ramaswamy		 Chris
Sununu		 Donald
Trump
Digital Research Inc. Mar 22 – April 22, 2023 192 (LV) – 10% 27% 3% 5% 1% 1% 1% 59%
Hypothetical polling
Maine's 2nd congressional district
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Nikki
Haley		 Mike
Pence		 Other Undecided
January 3, 2023 Redrawing of congressional districts after the 2020 redistricting cycle
January 20, 2021 Inauguration of Joe Biden
November 3, 2020 2020 presidential election
SurveyUSA Jun 30 – July 6, 2020 604 (LV) ± 4.1% 12% 30% 36%[lower-alpha 2] 21%

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ↑ Ted Cruz with 12%; Donald Trump Jr. with 11%; Ivanka Trump with 7%; Marco Rubio with 6%

References

  1. ↑ "Maine Republican Presidential Nominating Process". thegreenpapers.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  2. ↑ Meyers, David. "Maine joins list of states with open primaries". The Fulcrum. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Seitz-Wald, Alex (December 28, 2023). "Maine's top election official rules Trump ineligible for 2024 primary ballot". NBC News. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Russell, Jenna (January 2, 2024). "Trump Appeals Decision Barring Him From Maine Primary Ballot". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ admin (November 9, 2023). "Maine GOP Will Nullify RCV In Presidential Primary". Maine GOP. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ Kazarian, Grace; Woodall, Hunter (December 21, 2023). "Judge keeps Chris Christie off Maine's Republican primary ballot". CBS News. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  7. ↑ Bartow, Adam. "Multiple petitions seek to remove Donald Trump from Maine primary ballot". WMTV.
  8. ↑ Montellaro, Zach (December 15, 2023). "Maine's elections chief publicly grapples with whether 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump". Politico. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Maine Secretary of State Decision in Challenge to Trump Presidential Primary Petitions". www.maine.gov. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Trump blocked from Maine presidential ballot in 2024". BBC News. December 28, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Freiman, Jordan (December 28, 2023). "Maine secretary of state disqualifies Trump from primary ballot". CBS News. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  12. ↑ Ohm, Rachel (December 1, 2023). "Trump and 5 rivals qualify for Republican presidential primary ballot in Maine". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  13. ↑ Frazier, Kierra (December 4, 2023). "North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum drops presidential bid after failing to qualify for fourth debate". Politico. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  14. ↑ Koretski, Katherine (January 15, 2024). "Vivek Ramaswamy drops out of the 2024 presidential race, endorses Trump". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ Robertson, Nick (December 3, 2023). "Christie, Hutchinson absent from Maine GOP primary ballot". The Hill. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  16. ↑ Kobin, Billy (December 13, 2023). "Republicans vying to face Jared Golden in 2024 split on Donald Trump". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  17. ↑ "'Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski know the players in the GOP field for 2024. And they still aren't sure who they will end up backing". Politico. June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
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