Last Thursday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) and his supporters, challenging the constitutionality of ranked choice voting, or RCV.
The next morning Poliquin ended the recount he had requested in his loss to Democrat Jared Golden.
NEWS CENTER Maine's political analysts say that was a good decision by Poliquin. Former state senator Phil Harriman says calling for a recount was something Poliquin had to do cover all his bases while challenging the RCV system. But he adds "I think once the court said it was constitutional, he wisely said, 'I'm going to end the process of counting votes.'"
Former Speaker of the Maine House John Richardson says many constitutional scholars believed the RCV process would pass muster. But he says Poliquin "needed to hear it because he's the last person, frankly, who is had to come to grips with the fact that he lost the election."
In a radio interview this past week, Gov. Paul LePage (R-Maine) second-guessed a couple of judicial nominations he made, including Judge Michaela Murphy, who has ruled against the LePage administration in several cases involving Medicaid expansion.
As for the criticizing a judge so publicly, Richardson says "He's going to be Paul LePage all the way out to the door, probably squawking as he's getting into his own personal vehicle. Michaela Murphy is a great judge, and came to the right result."
Harriman says we shouldn't be surprised, since LePage promised in his State of the State address this year to keep working "until the last hour on the last day, the last minute… I think this is just the beginning of the Paul LePage exit tour!"
Harriman and Richardson also discuss the governor's promise to return to run against Janet Mills in four years if he feels Maine is not succeeding, and they tackle the latest controversy bubbling up from the sentencing of President Trump's former legal counsel Michael Cohen.
Political Brew airs Sundays on The Morning Report.