A Republican lawmaker facing domestic violence allegations kept his seat by a single vote after a Thursday recount broke a tie with his challenger.
State Rep. Lucas Lanigan, R-Sanford, got 2,478 votes to 2,477 for Democrat Patricia Kidder in the Nov. 5 election that came just eight days after Lanigan turned himself in to police on an aggravated assault charge that came after he allegedly strangled his romantic partner after she confronted him over an affair. That woman later said that the case should be dropped.
Lanigan had been heavily favored to win a second term until his arrest. Early voting had been under way for more than three weeks by that time. Unofficial results initially showed Lanigan and Kidder tied after the city of Sanford corrected a flawed absentee ballot count.
Neither Lanigan nor Kidder immediately responded to phone calls seeking comment on Thursday afternoon, but House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said he expected Lanigan to serve in the chamber while his case works through the legal system.
“He’s a duly elected representative from Sanford who does have serious, heavy charges against him,” he said.
Top Democrats called on Lanigan to leave the race after the allegations became public. The result of the election leaves them with a slim 76-73 majority over Republicans in the Maine House of Representatives alongside two liberal-leaning independents.
This seat is the last one in the Legislature to be decided after the 2024 election, although three more recounts are scheduled in races whose outcomes are unlikely to be reversed.
