PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — As Republicans dig out from under a midterm landslide, they can point to a single bright spot on the nationwide congressional map. That’s Maine’s 2nd congressional district, the only seat that went from blue to red without the help of redistricting.
It was far from a resounding victory. Even though President Donald Trump won the district by 9 points two years ago, it took a former Republican governor, Paul LePage, to squeak out a victory over Matt Dunlap, the Democratic state auditor.
The Associated Press called the race Thursday after officials finished the ranked choice voting process to determine the winner.
LePage and Dunlap were competing to replace Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat who is retiring from Congress.
The only other seats that went from blue to red are Texas' 32nd congressional district and Tennessee' 9th congressional district, but both of those flips were enabled by redistricting efforts that made the electorates far more conservative.
Meanwhile, Democrats have flipped 44 seats, and a handful of races have not yet been called.
Dunlap conceded last week and LePage declared victory, and he’s been in Washington for orientation for new members.
“Paul LePage is already hard at work for the people of Maine,” said Brent Littlefield, a spokesperson for LePage.
Maine only has two congressional districts. The 1st is heavily Democratic and includes Portland and wealthy coastal towns. The 2nd includes a few small cities and vast rural and forested areas, and is home to industries such as logging, potato farming and lobster fishing. It’s more conservative than most of New England.
Golden had found success in the 2nd by running as a moderate Democrat who was willing to break with his party. However, he announced last year that he would not run for a fifth term, saying he had “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community.”
As governor from 2010 to 2018, most of LePage’s two terms predated Trump’s presidency, but he aligned himself with the president toward the end of his time in office. The two shared a brand of brash, conservative populism, with LePage once saying he was “Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular.”
However, LePage also criticized Trump's tariffs on Canada, a key trading partner for Maine, and expressed support for legal immigration. When he declared victory last week, LePage vowed to make the state’s interests a priority in Washington.
“If it is good for Maine, I will work hard to make it happen. If it is bad for Maine, I will oppose it,” he said.
Rep.-elect Paul LePage, R-Maine, center, and newly-elected members of the 120th Congress gather for a group photo on the steps of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a candidate for Maine's second congressional House district, greets supporters before Vice President JD Vance spoke during a visit to Compotech, a composite technology company, Aug. 24, 2026, in Brewer, Maine. (AP Photo/Gabe Souza, File)
LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man accused of burying his 11-month-old son in a dog crate in a clump of scrubby pines was denied bond Thursday.
Michael Comer, 25, has been charged with attempted murder, burglary and unlawfully placing a child at risk in connection with the disappearance and rescue of Koah Sharp, who survived and is expected to make a full recovery.
Tyler Douglas, lead investigator for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, told Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart on Thursday morning that Comer showed no remorse for attempting to kill his son and tried to flee the state. Reinhart subsequently approved a public defender for Comer and set a hearing for Dec. 10.
Comer has been in custody in Lexington County since Monday, when his son was reported missing. An attorney has not yet been appointed for him.
Koah, who rescuers found after about 24 hours, was released from a hospital Tuesday night, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
John Comer said he’d opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay. He showed an Associated Press reporter the small hole on a neighbor's property where rescuers uncovered the child.
“God had to have laid in the ground with Koah for the entire, entirety of that time,” he said after Thursday's bond hearing. “Only God can deliver miracles in this fashion.”
Authorities haven’t revealed anything about Comer’s motive. He was sentenced in October to probation after pleading guilty to domestic violence involving the boy’s mother. Court records show that in May he pushed her from behind while she was holding Koah, causing the baby to hit a clothes dryer.
Koah’s parents “have had some situations,” the sheriff said.
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
Family members have identified the mother as Dezarae Sharp. The AP could not locate a phone number for her, and she has not responded to messages sent to her social media accounts.
In a 911 call released Thursday, Patricia Comer told a dispatcher that her son had “severe schizophrenia and bipolar and depression.” She said she had been “kindly worried” about leaving Koah with his father that morning. “He threatened to kill himself last night and asked me for some sleeping pills,” she told the dispatcher. “He kept making comments that he was going to take (unintelligible) to New York, which he cannot, because he’s on probation.”
But John Comer said his son, from whom he has been largely estranged, seemed perfectly rational when he picked him and Koah up and took them to his home. He said his son told him he had a job and a plan to care for Koah.
“He was not emotional,” John Comer said outside the law enforcement complex Thursday. “He was not excited. He was just, he appeared a loving, a loving and caring father. He fed the baby. He changed the baby’s diaper. He held the baby. The baby played for a while. He was in his right mind.”
Dozens of first responders scoured the countryside for the boy. After a full day of searching, authorities found freshly disturbed soil and heard cries from below, the sheriff said.
Koah likely survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel that was wrapped around the crate below ground, he said.
John Comer said the crate was “just a piece of junk” he had lying around his house. He said he has no “sympathy or pity” for his son, and shudders to think what might have happened had he not picked them up that day.
“Koah’s alive,” he said, choking back a sob. “He’s alive. That’s what matters.”
Breed reported from Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart listens during the bond hearing for Michael Comer, accused of burying his 11-month-old son in a dog crate, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Lexington, S.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
John Comer, the grandfather of 11-month-old Koah Sharp, shows the area where his grandson was found buried alive near his home in Leesville, S.C., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Amber Hammond shows a video of her great-nephew, 11-month-old Koah Sharp, on the porch at her home in West Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Amber Hammond shows a photo of her great-nephew, 11-month-old Koah Sharp, and her nephew, Michael Comer, at her home in West Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
