Two independents have just been elected to the Maine State House of Representatives. They are Kent Ashley in the 82nd district and Owen Casas in the 94th district. Neither was an incumbent. Both were in two-person races. Ackley defeated a Republican, and Casas defeated a Democrat.
Four independents had been elected to the Maine House in 2014, but all four declined to run for re-election. The new Maine House will consist of 77 Democrats, 72 Republicans, and the two independents. The Portland Press-Herald newspaper has a story that erroneously says two Libertarians were elected to the State House. The newspaper story should have said two independents were elected.
Looks like 2 independent wins in the Alaska state house as well. One was an incumbent running for re-election and the other defeated a Republican incumbent.
Ackley is spelled ‘Ackley’ and not ‘Ashley’. Technically he ran as a “Common Sense Independent”. It is not clear why the Democrats did not run a candidate. In 2012 it was a four-vote margin, and in 2014 it was 54%R to 46%D. The Republican was from Wales, the smallest town (of three) in the district, which happens to be the only town in Androscoggin, while the larger two were in Kennebec. He had overwhelming support from Wales, but lost the larger towns.
Casas (accent on the second syllable) ran as an independent in 2014, finishing 2nd, well ahead of the Republican, but well behind the Democrat, in a solidly Democratic district. In 2016, without a Republican opponent he presumably picked up most Republicans, and the Democrat incumbent did not win re-election.
Maine permits non-party candidates to run as “Independent”, “No Party”, or “Unenrolled”. Historically, some have preferred “Unenrolled” or “No Party”, perhaps because it is more accurate, but the trend appears to be to use “Independent” which is more positive sounding. In 2016, there were 6 “Independent”, 1 “Unenrolled”, and 1 “No Party” in addition to the “Common Sense Independent”