PRESQUE ISLE, Maine– The Democratic presidential primary is finally over in Maine. And after months of TV ads, yard signs and local activism, we have hard numbers in the Star City.
Of the 1,607 residents who voted in the Democratic presidential primary, former Vice President Joe Biden won 47 percent of voters (756 votes total) in Presque Isle and surrounding communities. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came in a far-away second with 27 percent (436 votes), former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won 14 percent (220 votes) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren won 8 percent (125 votes).
The other 70 votes were scattered, many going to candidates who had dropped out, including former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (28 votes) and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (12 votes).
Biden came in first place in 13 communities: Ashland, Castle Hill, Chapman, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Mapleton, Mars Hill, Masardis, Nashville Plantation, Portage Lake, Presque Isle, Wade and Washburn. Sanders won three races: Bridgewater, Perham and Westfield.
There were ties in a few places: Biden and Sanders both got 12 votes in Blaine, while in Garfield Plantation, Biden, Sanders, Bloomberg, Warren and Andrew Yang each got one vote.
The vote on Question 1, which decided the fate of a state law eliminating religious and philosophical exemptions for vaccines for students attending public schools in Maine, was much more lopsided: 67 percent of voters in Presque Isle and surrounding communities voted to keep the law, while 33 percent voted to repeal it.
The only cities or towns that voted to repeal the law were Blaine (by five votes) and Perham (by one).
No candidates came to Presque Isle — or Aroostook County for that matter — during the campaign. This is unsurprising given The County’s sparse population compared to the rest of the state, and the number of other delegate-heavy Super Tuesday states that voted on Tuesday.
Though none seemed to hold public events in The County, a few figures with County ties became surrogates, including former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, who represented Maine’s 2nd congressional district (including The County) from 2003 to 2015, who supported Bloomberg. The current holder of that seat, Rep. Jared Golden, endorsed Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who wasn’t on the Maine ballot.
The Bloomberg campaign, who had a staff of 20 in Maine, may have done the most work in Aroostook County, with his campaign knocking on doors in Presque Isle, Caribou and the St. John Valley. It also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on digital advertising in the state, some of which undoubtedly came in to County residents.
Progressive group NextGen Maine also worked to register voters on college campuses in Fort Kent and Presque Isle, making stops at University of Maine at Presque Isle, University of Maine at Fort Kent and Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.
Matthew Lenehan, 33, who volunteered for NextGen Maine, said it would be his first time voting. Like many young people across The County, politics is often subservient to day-to-day matters. He believed the work he and NextGen were doing would help students remember there was a primary.
“Sometimes in college you get so focused on assignment, homework, exam, that you forget the world exists around you,” Lenehan said.
Lenehan said he and other NextGen Maine members had had success recruiting voters across Aroostook County. They even spent time canvassing (going door to door) in the area.
The role that Presque Isle and surrounding communities play in the presidential election in November remains to be seen. Last election, then-candidate Donald Trump swept Presque Isle and all the towns around it. And while many voters came out to vote in the Democratic primaries, others made a point to vote for Donald Trump in the uncontested Republican primary.
