Maine approves same-sex marriage in historic vote

• Barack Obama won all four of Maine's electoral votes; Maine splits its electoral votes by district
• Maine's two incumbent U.S. representatives, Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud, breezed to new terms
• Independent former Gov. Angus King won the race for senate

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Democratic President Barack Obama on Tuesday turned back a challenge by Republican Mitt Romney in Maine, winning all four of the state's electoral votes.

Even though a Republican hasn't won in Maine in more than 20 years, Romney had hoped to win at least one of the state's electoral votes in northern Maine.

Maine is one of two states that split its electoral votes, allocating them in part by congressional district. But Obama won both the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts on Tuesday.

The scenario of Maine dividing its electoral votes has long intrigued political observers but has never happened since the system was put in place in 1969. The state allocates two votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each of the state's two congressional districts.

Maine last voted for a Republican when George H.W. Bush won in 1988. Four years later, Democrat Bill Clinton carried Maine and Bush came in third behind independent Ross Perot.

Maine residents approved same-sex marriage in a historic vote Tuesday, giving the gay rights movement a long-sought breakthrough victory and handing a defeat to opponents who were far outspent in the run-up to the election.

Three other states - Maryland, Washington and Minnesota - also held votes on gay marriage Tuesday. Maine's results were the first called by The Associated Press, perhaps giving it the distinction of being the first to approve same-sex marriage in a popular vote.

Gay marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia, but those laws were either enacted by lawmakers or through court rulings. In popular votes, 32 states had previously held elections on same-sex marriage, with all losing.

Maine was the first place where gay marriage supporters had collected enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot themselves. Opponents had feared that if the ballot measure passed, same-sex marriage advocates would have held up Maine to bolster their argument that public opinion has changed over the years in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

Matt McTighe, campaign manager for the Mainers United for Marriage group, said Mainers were receptive to the message that all "loving, committed couples" had the right to marry. He said his campaign talked to more than 200,000 people one-on-one on the phone or in person in the past three years.

"Over the years, we've had a chance to change hearts and minds, and we've now made history here," he said.

Carroll Conley, head of the Protect Marriage Maine group that opposed the measure, said all signs had pointed to a referendum victory, but he wasn't ready to concede late Tuesday.

The effective date of the law will be set after the vote is officially tabulated and the governor signs a proclamation, but it will go into effect no later than Jan. 4, according to the secretary of state's office.

In Portland, though, many voters were more concerned about the economy and the presidential vote.

Kathleen Losier said she voted for Republican Mitt Romney for president because she feels that the nation's staggering debt is holding back the economy.

"I'm a social liberal but I put those issues aside because our debt problem is more of an issue with me," said Losier, a 45-year-old registered Republican who lost her shoe industry job, and her health insurance, a decade ago and now works as a merchandising manager.

But Conor Beliveau, who voted for President Barack Obama for another term, said Romney "would set us back 50 or so years" on social issues. "Romney-Ryan would be an absolute fall-in-your face disaster," said the 30-year-old wellness therapist.

Independent former Gov. Angus King, who won the race to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, said Tuesday he's "fired up" and ready to head to Washington to try to serve as a bridge between the major parties to end gridlock.

The former two-term governor overcame challenges from Republican Secretary of State Charlie Summers and Democratic state Sen. Cynthia Dill in an election with big implications for control of the Senate, in which Democrats held a slim edge going into Tuesday's elections.

King had said he was inspired to run because Snowe described the Senate as broken. He cast himself as unbeholden to parties and able to broker compromise.

"As I've said repeatedly, I'm neither naive nor arrogant enough to think I can go down there and do it all myself, and I don't think they're going to ask me how to run the place," he said. "But I do think we're going to begin the process that leads to real change and makes the place work for the people."

King was subjected to millions of dollars' worth of attack ads. Addressing supporters in Freeport, he singled out Republican operative Karl Rove for a special thanks, saying negative ads by Rove's super political action committee reinvigorated his supporters and donors.

Maine's two incumbent U.S. representatives, Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud, breezed to new terms on Tuesday as they defeated state Senate leaders who sought to recapture for Republicans House seats long held by Democrats.

Pingree had 66 percent of the vote with 47 percent of the precincts in southern Maine's 1st Congressional District counted, easily defeating Jon Courtney. In the 2nd District, Michaud had 60 percent of the votes in his race against Republican Kevin Raye with votes in 28 percent of the districts counted.

Pingree said she was "gratified the voters would give me an opportunity to serve again," adding, "There's a tremendous amount of work to be done in Congress."

Tops on her list is a bill to help the country's farms, but the biggest challenge is the deficit.

Courtney congratulated Pingree for her win in a cleanly run race and expressed hope newly elected House members can work together to solve the nation's problems, Courtney's spokesman Keith Herrick said.

Michaud said he was not surprised at his margin over Raye after receiving positive reactions as he traveled through the district in recent weeks. He also said he spoke with Angus King, the independent who won Maine's U.S. Senate race, after beating Raye.

"I wished him good luck and said I look forward to working with him on the issues that are important to Maine," said Michaud, who as a legislator worked with King for eight years while King was governor. "We didn't always agree, but we were able to sit down and work out our differences."

The two incumbents went into the election with the edge of name recognition, which incumbency rewards. Campaigns for Pingree and Michaud were also better financed.

Voters in the liberal-leaning 1st District habitually go with Democratic representatives, having elected only one Republican - James Longley Jr. in 1994 - since 1986. The campaign between Pingree and Courtney was relatively low key, with Pingree riding on her progressive credentials and Courtney highlighting regulatory reform and other job creation issues he worked on in the Legislature.

Pingree is married to wealthy financier S. Donald Sussman, majority owner of the Maine Today Media newspapers in the state.

Voters in the sprawling 2nd District, which covers all except a southern coastal swath of Maine, awarded Michaud, of East Millinocket, with a sixth term.

Raye, of Perry, is owner of a Down East mustard company and current president of the Maine Senate. He also faced Michaud a decade ago.

Michaud, a former paper mill worker, stressed his efforts to help veterans and to protect Maine's manufacturing jobs from unfair international competition.

Raye, as a small business owner, stressed his support for pro-business issues and trumpeted his endorsements by business organizations, while tagging Michaud as someone who's lost touch with constituents.

The 2nd District seat has been occupied by Democrats since 1994 but previously was held by Republican Olympia Snowe for 16 years before she was elected to the Senate.