LEWISTON — Voters were walking the gauntlet of candidates, including some running for statewide offices, at the Longley School in the downtown Tuesday morning as poll workers handled a steady stream of people casting their ballots.

“Something you said really resonated with me,” one man, leaning on a cane as he entered the building told Eliot Cutler, the independent candidate in Maine’s governor’s race. “Vote your conscience.”

The stop in Lewiston was one of several for Cutler as the final hours ticked off the clock in the three-way race for Maine’s governor’s office.  Cutler who is running against incumbent Republican Gov. Paul LePage and Mike Michaud, the Democrat, on the ticket said reaction was mixed.

“Voters thank you for being here, some tell you they’re voting for you, some don’t, some shake your hand, some don’t,” Cutler said. He said he stopped trying to figure out how things would end up Tuesday, “about two days ago.”

Cutler, who has trailed behind LePage and Michaud in all the public polling data, said he was simply enjoying his time with voters and thanking them for coming out Tuesday. He had started the day earlier in Bangor and like his rivals was moving from town to town getting in last-minute handshakes and greetings.

Election Day was special, Cutler said.  “It means democracy, it means choice, it means everything Americans deserve,” Cutler said. Despite Tuesday’s outcome he said he was upbeat.

“I feel terrific, however it turns out I feel great,” Cutler said. “I’m happy to be here at the Longley School, it’s a good omen.”

The school is named for Lewiston native James Longley, who was also Maine’s first independent governor.

Both LePage, who was hosting his election night reception at Lewiston’s Franco-American Heritage Center, and Michaud who was also visiting the Longley School polling station, had plans to be in the city Tuesday too.

Many of the other candidates in Lewiston and Auburn, including those running for seats in the Legislature were also lining up to say, “hello” and make sure their names were known before voters went into the polls.

Limited by the state’s election laws on what they can say at the polling place most, like Mark Cayer, an independent running for Maine House District 61 in Lewiston, simply introduced themselves and gripped hands. 

Cayer and many others would spend the day on their feet, one final stand-a-thon, before their fate was sealed, either with a public office or rejection, by the electorate.

Meanwhile Shenna Bellows, the Democratic candidate running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a three-term Republican, said her campaign may come to a close today as she finishes up a 16-county sweep in Ellsworth tonight.

Bellows has distantly trailed Collins, one of the state’s most popular politicians, in the polls for weeks. Still she was optimistic. “We’ve been proud to be a voice for working-class families, ” Bellows said. “Regardless of the outcome this is the beginning of a movement for change for working-class families.”

For their sake Lewiston voters had many reasons for coming out Tuesday including making their voices heard on whether the city should change its ordinances to make legal the possession of small amounts of marijuana and whether Maine should change its bear hunting rules.

Pati Keene said in the governor’s race she had decided to stay the course with LePage.  “I think he has a big mouth but I think he has matching actions,” Keene said. “So I’m willing to take a chance with the known.”

Keene also said she was voting to legalize marijuana for adults under city ordinance.

“I think there are so many people using it now that it’s costing us more to try to stop people from using it,” Keene said. “But time will tell whether I voted right or not.”

Husband and wife Anne and Leo St. Pierre said they came out to vote because they wanted Michaud to be Maine’s next governor.  “We like Mike,” Leo St. Pierre said. 

Anne St. Pierre said she also thinks Michaud is the better candidate for working people. “We need somebody to help the working people, if we don’t work, we don’t make money, if we don’t make money we don’t spend money,” Anne St. Pierre said.  “So it’s a vicious circle and we have to keep it going.”

Most important, Anne St. Pierre she and her husband wanted to make their voices heard.

“The only way to have your voice heard is being able to vote,” Anne St. Pierre said.

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