How does a green party candidate who was arrested for drunk driving get 10% when the party cannot do that well statewide in MA?
It is a real shame Kinky lost and by so much!
Any way, I think neither has a mandate, but if forced to choose I would say Baldacci has a weaker "mandate".
Maine has a strong Independent streak, and the Green Independent Party is well established. (They've won sizeable shares of the vote in every gubernatorial election since the early 90s.)
How did Eder manage to win 65% that one time? Was there something wrong with the Dem candidate that the Wiki doesn't mention?
The state Democrats had tried to gerrymander Eder out of his seat by separating his residence from his base of support. He moved back into the district where his support base was and was reelected in a landslide because the people were really pissed at the Democrats.
No - that was 2 years later, when he took 51% to the Dems' 41% and the Republicans' 8%.
