The 1982 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Democratic Governor Joseph Brennan defeated Republican challenger Charles R. Cragin. Brennan defeated Cragin, winning his re-election by the highest percent margin in more than thirty years.
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 County results Brennan: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Brennan would be challenged in the Democratic primary by Lewiston state representative Georgette Berube, but would easily dispatch her. Cragin narrowly defeated Falmouth state representative Sherry Huber and Waterville State Senator Richard Pierce in the GOP primary. Berube and Huber would be the first women to ever run for Governor of Maine.
The 281,066 votes received by Brennan represented the single highest vote total for governor in Maine history, until the election of Governor Janet Mills in 2018. Brennan's coattails allowed Democrats to win the first trifecta in the state since 1913. This was the first time a gubernatorial candidate won a majority of the vote since 1970, this would not occur again until 1998. This was the only Maine gubernatorial election between 1974 and 2022 that no third-party candidate received more than 5% of the vote.
Democratic primary
editCandidates
edit- Georgette Berube, member of the State House
- Joseph E. Brennan, incumbent Governor
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joseph E. Brennan | 56,990 | 76.80 | |
| Democratic | Georgette Berube | 17,219 | 23.20 | |
| Total votes | 74,209 | 100.00 | ||
Republican primary
editCandidates
edit- Charles Cragin, attorney and candidate for Governor in 1978
- Sherry Huber, member of the State House
- Richard Pierce, member of the State Senate
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Charles Cragin | 32,235 | 38.02 | |
| Republican | Sherry Huber | 27,739 | 32.71 | |
| Republican | Richard Pierce | 24,820 | 29.27 | |
| Total votes | 84,794 | 100.00 | ||
General election results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joseph Brennan (Incumbent) | 281,066 | 61.91% | − | |
| Republican | Charles Cragin | 172,949 | 38.09% | − | |
| Majority | 108,117 | 23.81% | |||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
Notes
edit- ^ a b "Maine Primary Election Results - June 8, 1982" (PDF). Maine.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2024.
- ^ Guide to US Elections, Fifth Edition, Volume II. CQ Press. 2005. pp. 1497–1499. ISBN 978-1-56802-981-8. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
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