AUGUSTA — Members of the new 128th Legislature re-elected all four of Maine’s constitutional officers Wednesday in secret-ballot elections at the State House.
Treasurer Terry Hayes, Attorney General Janet Mills, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap and State Auditor Pola Buckley were all returned to office.
None of those elections came as a surprise. The political balance in the Legislature hasn’t changed — Republicans with control in the Senate, Democrats with the majority in the House — since the officers were elected in 2014.
Hayes, a former lawmaker, fended off a challenge from former Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor, who was term-limited out of office this year.
Mills, who also is a former Democratic lawmaker, faced a relatively high-profile challenger in former House Minority Leader Joshua Tardy of Newport but emerged victorious for her fourth term — third consecutive — as the state’s top attorney.
Dunlap and Buckley were re-elected without challengers.
Mills, Dunlap and Hayes will serve two-year terms. Buckley was elected to a four-year term.
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