Independent Sen. Angus King turns back 3 challengers to win in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Independent Sen. Angus King turned back challenges by a former Republican state party chair and a Democratic environmental activist in Maine to win a third term with a majority of the vote in the four-way race.

King, who was first elected to the Senate in 2012, told reporters that he believes he can still help bridge the gap in an increasingly divided Washington on topics including the border, housing and inflation.

“Now, more than ever, it’s going to be more important for people to be able to work together,” King said Wednesday in Brunswick. “One of my colleagues this morning in a conversation said, ‘This is the time when small groups of us are going to have to try to get together to solve problems.’ So that’s exactly what I intend to do,” he said.

King was challenged by Republican Demi Kouzounas, a former GOP state chair, dentist and U.S. Army veteran; and Democrat David Costello, a former senior government official who led the Maryland Department of the Environment and the climate and clean energy program at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Also in the race was another independent, Jason Cherry.

The Associated Press declared King the winner with a majority of the vote on Thursday, meaning there was no need for additional voting rounds under Maine’s ranked choice voting.

A candidate must receive a majority of votes under the state’s voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order on the ballot. Under the system, the last-place candidate is eliminated, those voters’ second-choices are applied, and votes are reallocated. Under this process, it can sometimes take up to a week for the winner to be declared.

The 80-year-old former governor would be the oldest senator in state history if he completes the term ending in 2030, but he was not dogged during the campaign by questions about his age like President Joseph Biden was before stepping down as the Democratic presidential nominee.

King has survived a pair of cancer scares. He was treated for malignant melanoma — a skin cancer — at 29 and had surgery for prostate cancer in 2015.

In Washington, he is part of an increasingly small number of senators in the middle, with the departure of Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.

King has long said he doesn’t want to be tied to any party, though he caucuses with Democrats. That has served him well in a state where independents used to represent the largest voting bloc. In recent years, however, both major parties have overtaken unenrolled voters in sheer numbers.