(NEWS CENTER Maine) -- With her election Tuesday night, Democrat Janet Mills became the first woman elected governor of Maine. She is also the first person to win a first term as governor with more than 50% of the vote since Ken Curtis in 1966.
Republican analyst Phil Harriman says that's not the outcome he was hoping for, "but Janet Mills has the full support of 50% of Maine people who voted, and that's a good way to start off first term."
Democrat John Richardson says Governor-elect Mills showed her toughness during a well run campaign. And he adds "Give the Democratic Party credit, because I've never seen a better get out the vote organization in an off year election."
Richardson also says Republican Shawn Moody erred by running as a third term for Gov. Paul LePage. "I think that wasn't something that resonated."
Harriman agrees that the Democrats turned out the vote very well, but says there was something else working against Moody. "I think the economy is doing so well that it was no longer the number one issue on people’s minds when they went into the voting booth. It was more about healthcare and education."
Democrats also won big victories in legislative races Tuesday, and will have sturdy majorities in both the House and Senate.
Harriman says they still need to plan carefully. "Democrats have a great opportunity to collaborate and move legislation through in an expeditious fashion... The other side of that is, if they think this was a mandate against the policies of Paul LePage, and are going to go in an opposite direction, they may be getting off on the wrong foot."
Richardson says the one of the biggest challenges Janet Mills will face is tempering the expectations of the progressive Democrats. "And I think if they push too far and too fast, I think they will lose a lot of the people that came to the election supporting her.
People in the town of Mexico supported Janet Mills. That means blue collar Democrats are coming back, and they've got to be very careful about not losing them in the next election."
Our analysts also found some agreement on the ranked choice vote count in Maine's second district race for Congress. They believe the odds favor Democrat Jared Golden being the eventual winner over Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin.
But Harriman thinks this won't be over when the ranked choice counting ends. "I think Bruce Poliquin is going to go to court to find out if ranked choice voting is constitutional."
Political Brew airs Sundays on The Morning Report.