BANGOR, Maine — Maine Republican Party spokesman David Sorensen confirmed that incumbent state Republican Sen. Nichi Farnham lost her re-election bid in District 32 to Democrat Geoff Gratwick.
The Farnham-Gratwick contest drew more than $450,000 in outside spending. Democrats also accused Farnham of violating campaign disclosure laws.
“That race will go down as an example of some of the worst in Maine politics in that the Dems continued to attack an honorable senator even after she was unanimously exonerated by a bipartisan ethics commission,” Sorensen said.
Official results are not available.
Two years ago, Farnham took 53 percent of votes cast in Bangor and 70 percent of the vote in Hermon to wrest the seat from incumbent Democratic Sen. Joseph Perry.
Sorensen also said Republican Heather Sirocki won her re-election bid over Democrat Jean-Marie Caterina in House District 128 in Scarborough.
Political observers consider the Farnham-Gratwick race a key contest to determine control of the Maine Senate. Farnham was one of five Republicans whose victories in 2010 helped the GOP seize control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1974.
Sorensen certainly knows about the “worst in Maine politics”, he engages in it on a daily basis.
Nichi’s a class act. Both parties spent too much money, but the Democrats crossed the line when they blatantly lied about her ethics. Sorry to see such a fine lady smeared through the mud the way she was.
You make it sound as though the Democratic Party lied about Farnham’s name being on documents the name shouldn’t have been on. It was a fact her name was on those documents. That was evidence enough to ask for an investigation.
She may be nice but, she’ll sit and listen to you for an hour and then, go vote straight party ticket. No concern for anyone but her party. Good riddance.
Nichi lost for two reasons….1 ) Got caught cheating 2) Voted against her constituents on major legislation . ….. The people have spoken… Good riddance . PAC your bags .
Miss Farnham was less than honest in her excuses to the Ethics Commission and while the Commission was impotent in it’s charge, the voters were not !!!!
I’m so happy about this! I’ve listened to Geoff Gratwick speak up and bring attention to overlooked details often during Bangor City Council meetings. He actually uses his brain and he’s really smart to boot!
Wow… Another One Bites The Dust .
Nichi…Time to PAC it in!!!
Maye, just maybe, Ms Farnham’s loss had something to do with denying Landslide LePage a majority in the Senate.
I voted for Nichi because I don’t belive in the communist party.
Another one bites the dust. :^)
There were no negative mailers from Nichi Farnham’s campaign, but there were plenty from the Gratwick campaign, along with the full page ads that were blatantly false!
Nichi lost me long before the ethics problem. Voting to pay every landowner who can make an argument that his property was affected by regulation was too extreme to be sensible. No other state has such a law and there are good reasons why. Maine’s unique value is its environment. Lose all regulation because of the fear of lawsuits would make us a cold New Jersey. Anybody with a court filing fee and a claim they were going to build a strip mall in their backyard could cash in on tax dollars. She touted the concept in a flyer to my house. I could not endorse anyone who could support such a dumb idea. Let them try it in Texas first. Rick Perry might be convinced it is a good idea. It would be as good as eliminating the…. the.,,,, the… oh yeah the EPA