Ande Smith, a Republican candidate for Maine’s 1st Congressional District, conceded the race Wednesday to his primary opponent, Republican Mark Holbrook.
Holbrook’s victory by a margin of 57 votes was confirmed Wednesday by Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.
Holbrook, a psychologist and former police officer who lives in Brunswick, will now face incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree in the November general election. Pingree has held the state’s 1st Congressional District seat since 2008.
“The recount of the Republican primary race for Congressional District 1 has concluded, with candidate Mark I. Holbrook confirmed as the winner,” Dunlap said in a statement.
Holbrook won the June 14 primary election by 55 votes, but Smith asked for a recount because of his opponent’s slim margin of victory. Holbrook gained two votes during the recount.
“We are both humbled and excited by the opportunity to move forward in the general election and to send Congresswoman Pingree back to her home state of Minnesota,” Holbrook said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Pingree was born in Minneapolis in 1955 and moved to Maine when she was 17. After graduating from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, she moved to North Haven, where she raised her family.
“I want to congratulate Mark Holbrook on his win and I look forward to a substantive debate on the issues facing Maine and the country,” Pingree said in a statement.
Dunlap said the recount, which started on Tuesday, was completed Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. in the Maine Department of Public Safety building in Augusta. The 1st Congressional District includes 118 towns in six Maine counties. Election officials recounted 22,955 ballots. A total of 2,292 ballots were left blank.
Holbrook received 10,360 votes to Smith’s 10,303 votes, according to the final recount results released by the secretary of state.
In a statement issued late Wednesday evening, Smith, who serves on the Maine Board of Education and owns a cybersecurity consulting firm, congratulated Holbrook and thanked his supporters for their confidence in him.
“I would first like to thank my supporters and volunteers throughout Maine’s 1st District for their hard work and support during this last few months,” Smith said in a statement. “Even though we were not victorious in the primary, I am tremendously honored at the outpouring of support my campaign received.”
“I would also like to congratulate Mark Holbrook on his victory. This election has shown that voters are tired of politics-as-usual, and are ready for serious change and reform,” Smith added.
According to his campaign website, Holbrook was born and raised in Brunswick. Holbrook supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, strengthening U.S. borders to reduce illegal immigration and is skeptical of scientific evidence that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are changing the global climate.
Holbrook said he looks forward to working with Smith and members of his campaign in an effort to unseat Pingree.
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