On March 10, Maine held a special election to fill the vacancy in the State House, district 93. The vote was: Democrat Anne Beebe-Center 52.89%; Republican James Kalloch 44.51%; Green Ronald Huber 1.97%; Libertarian Shawn Levasseur .64%. See this story.
When this same seat had been up in November 2014, the vote had been: Democratic 52.01%; Republican 47.99%. The Republican nominee had run in November 2014 as well as in the recent special election. Because this district had one of the closest votes in November 2014, there was considerable suspense as to who would win the special election. That probably kept the minor party vote lower than it would have been otherwise.
UPDATE: this article explains the unusually high spending by the major parties in this race, and why the stakes for them were so high.
Not only that, but the Democratic and Republican Parties spent huge (by Maine standards) amounts of money on this late winter special election.
I still think Republicans should sink all their money in candidates for U.S.Senate – especially in states where they have a chance of winning. The GOP can forget about winning the White House in 2016 and in presidential for the foreseeable future. The Clintons have become a cult among the millennials, and nothing they do will keep people from supporting them. I say “them” because everyone knows that if Hillary is elected, Bill will be calling as many of the shots as she will.
By winning 75 out of the 100 U.S. Senate seats, the GOP can make it guaranteed that no Clinton appointee for the Courts will be approved, and no legislation supported by the Clintons will be passed into legislation.
And one thing for sure, the Supreme Court cannot order a Republican dominated U.S. Senate to approve any presidential nomination or sign any Clinton-endorsed Legislation.
But will the Republicans do this? Of course not. They are more interested in being a party of being the “loyal opposition” than protecting the republic from becoming a hyper-liberal dictatorship.
I see a real 3rd party on the horizon, and its going to be here by 2020 at the latest. Can’t wait!
I “ditto” my previous reply. There are elections when 3rd parties and Independents can “keep the big boys straight,” and then there is that unusual and exception election when national survival is at stake. 2016 and 2020 are two presidential elections which fall into that category. I hope the Republicans will continue to realize the truth of this fact.