AUGUSTA – In accordance with the Maine Constitution, the Legislature has re-apportioned and re-numbered all the electoral districts across the state beginning with this November’s election.

In addition, with the deadline now past for filing nomination forms with the Maine Secretary of State’s office, the slate of party candidates running for the Legislature this fall has also been set.

Raphaelle Silver, director of communications for the secretary of state, said the Maine Constitution mandates that all congressional, legislative and county district lines be redrawn every 10 years following the national census.

To bring Maine more into alignment with other states, the congressional districts were redrawn for the 2012 election, but the state and county electoral districts were redrawn last year to take effect during the 2014 election cycle, Silver said.

She said all the districts would be redrawn again for the 2022 election. And, following tradition, the Legislature has also renumbered all of the newly drawn districts, with the House districts now running south to north and the Senate districts running north to south.

Silver said the electoral districts are drawn based on a variety of factors, but the most important factor is population, in order to better fulfill the one-man, one-vote ideal.

Under the Maine Constitution, the size of each electoral district is determined by dividing the number of senators and representatives into the number of inhabitants of the state. The final district lines are first established by an Apportionment Commission and are then affirmed by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. If the Legislature fails to act, the re-apportionment becomes the responsibility of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Then, Silver said, it’s up to the secretary of state to implement the election districts that were established, which includes providing district maps and a written narrative with geographic descriptions of all the newly re-apportioned election districts.

All seats in both houses of the Legislature are up every two years and all legislators are subject to an eight-year term limit, under the Maine Constitution.

With a number of longtime legislators now term-limited out of office, this year’s slate of candidates features a number of new names alongside incumbents.

There are three recognized parties in Maine, the Democratic, Republican and Green. Primaries between candidates of the same party are scheduled for June 10 and the general election will be held on Nov. 4.

Party candidates had until March 17 to turn in their nomination forms to run for the Legislature, according to the secretary of state’s office.

In Freeport, Pownal and Durham, for Senate District 20, formerly District 15, the incumbent, Democratic state Sen. John Cleveland, will face off against Republican Eric Brakey.

In Senate District 21, formerly District 15, Republican Patricia Gagne and Rep. Nate Libby, D-Lewiston, are running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Margaret Craven, who is retiring.

In Senate District 24, formerly District 10, incumbent state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Cumberland County, is facing challenges from Republican Jennifer Johnson and Green candidate Frederick Horsh. This district includes Freeport and Pownal.

In House District 46, formerly District 105, which includes Durham, Democrat Anne Graham is facing off against Republican Michael Vaughn.

In House District 48, formerly District 106, which covers Freeport and Pownal, incumbent state Rep. Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, will face Republican Paul Shultz.

A CLOSER LOOK

For more information about the reapportionment of Maine’s legislative districts, see www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/apport/apport.htm.

For maps of the districts, see www.keepemcurrent.com.