Democrats who said Tuesday’s special election in State Senate District 7 would be a referendum on Gov. Paul LePage may be feeling vindicated in that assessment.

Just five months ago, Democrat Larry Bliss of South Portland held his seat by a mere 75 votes, his candidacy seemingly rocked by the same Republican steamroller that drove LePage into office.

In contrast, Tuesday’s vote to replace Bliss, who resigned to pursue work in another state, was an unmitigated rout.

State Rep. Cynthia Dill of Cape Elizabeth won by a 2:1 margin, taking all three towns against Republican challenger Louie Maietta Jr.

Dill won her own town with 1,766 votes to Maietta’s 833. She also won in the part of Scarborough served by District 7, 475 to 301. Dill captured Maietta’s hometown, South Portland, easily eclipsing the property manager with extensive in-town family ties, 2,840 to 1,271.

In the final tally, Dill won 5,081 votes to Maietta’s 2,405.

“I’m pretty down about it,” Maietta said Tuesday night. “I really though it would be better than what it was.”

Although Maietta heaped praise on his volunteers, particularly state GOP Chairman Charlie Webster – who reportedly “knocked on more than 2,500 doors himself” – the die was cast, Maietta believes, from the moment it was decided the special election would be held in conjunction with the annual school budget validation vote in all three district towns.

“In my honest opinion, I think when the governor made the point to put the school budget on this ballot, it was going to be a Democrat vote, because he’s already pissed off all of the teachers with everything that’s happened already in his administration,” said Maietta.

“I do not blame them,” said Maietta. “The governor played right into their hands.”

School budgets passed handily in all three towns. Cape Elizabeth said yes to its $21 million school spending plan (up 2.6 percent) by a vote of 1,837 (72.8 percent) to 686 (27.2 percent).

South Portland voters approved the $42.8 million budget for their schools (up 1 percent) by a vote of 2,458 (66.7 percent) to 1,226 (33.3 percent).

The only close vote was in Scarborough, where rumors ran rampant that a faction was gathering to vote down the budget so town councilors would beef it up on the second try. While votes were being counted, some local officials actually said they though the budget would fail. Instead, the $35.7 million budget (up 1.62 percent) did pass by a slim margin, 856-753.

Whether or not the simultaneous school vote can be blamed for Maietta’s loss, one thing he’s adamant did not factor in was late-breaking news of his financial duress. Liens and other issues reported in the media were all tied to the family business, Maietta Construction, which has been in bankruptcy, he said.

“I feel it’s a little unfair the way the media reported it,” said Maietta. “Yes, technically, I am still vice president of the company, and yes, I am a one-seventh owner, but I have not been involved in it’s day-to-day activities for more than 15 years.

“People aren’t as stupid,” continued Maietta. “I think the way it was reported actually earned us some votes.”

As to whether he will ever again seek votes from his neighbors, Maietta says it’s too soon to say. Right now, he’d busy assessing what went wrong.

“I could not have had a better group of people,” said Maietta. “We had the best of the best. There was not one thing they did not do. Really, we should have hands down had that election.”

Dill’s victory, and her resulting elevation into the state legislature’s upper chamber opens up her House seat. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.