More than 12,000 students cast ballots in a statewide mock election held Oct. 29, 2024, a week before Election Day. The results indicate that if students were able to vote, they would send Democrat Hannah Pingree to the Blaine House and elect Troy Jackson, Chellie Pingree and Paul LePage to Congress.
Hannah Pingree won the gubernatorial race with 41.8%, compared with 30.4% for Republican Bobby Charles and 24.4% for independent Rick Bennett. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, also a Democrat, won the 1st Congressional District with 57.5% over Republican Ron Russell; while the former governor, LePage, took the 2nd District with 52% of the votes over Democratic challenger Matt Dunlap. Jackson, a Democrat, eked out a win in the Senate race against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins with 50.8% of the student vote. More than 4% of students, however, wrote in another candidate in that race.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who travelled to Maranacook Community High School in Readfield to kick off Tuesday’s voting, noted that practicing voting before students turn 18 can help them feel prepared. In Maine, 16- and 17-year-olds can preregister to vote and those who will be 18 by Election Day may cast a ballot. New voters who are not yet registered can do so at the polls on Nov. 3.
