Staffers from the Maine Secretary of State Office double check the cast vote record Friday before running ranked choice voting tabulation at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — After steadily slogging through the votes cast in every town in Maine’s sprawling 2nd Congressional District, election officials said Friday that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden won a narrow victory in his bid for a fourth term, with 50.35% of the votes.

The Lewiston Democrat faces a recount request from Republican challenger Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, but it is rare for a recount to find mistakes serious enough to change the outcome of a race. Theriault got 49.65% of the votes.

Following the count, Golden expressed his gratitude to voters.

“Last week, I congratulated my opponent for being a fierce challenger and for his serious, well-run campaign. But today’s result reaffirms what we have known for more than a week: The people have chosen me to continue as their representative for another term in Congress. I am grateful for their confidence,” Golden said in a statement Friday night.

The three-term incumbent won office in 2018 when ranked choice voting provided him with the margin to knock out his GOP predecessor.

Golden and Theriault vied for the right to represent the largest district east of the Mississippi River in one of the hottest and costliest election campaigns in the nation. More than $50 million poured into the rural district from partisans on both sides trying to claim the seat in a closely divided U.S. House. Republicans managed to win enough races across the country to maintain their hold on the House by a narrow margin.

Golden said he wants to move forward focusing on his work in Washington, D.C.

“I am moving forward with my work in Congress, where I will continue to work with anyone — Democrats, Republicans and independents — to lower Mainers’ costs, protect our freedoms and our way of life, and ensure our safety and prosperity,” Golden said.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows talks into the laptop Friday that’s broadcasting a livestream of ranked choice voting tabulation at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The initial round of counting by municipal clerks across 11 counties in Maine put Golden in the driver’s seat with a small lead. But he fell short of the 50% needed to avoid adding ranked choice votes to the outcome.

The Maine Secretary of State’s Office reviewed the ballots and tallies this week to figure out how ranked choice votes impacted the race. They said there were about 12,000 ballots that did not pick Golden or Theriault as a first-round selection. They either picked someone else first by writing in a name or they left the first-choice pick blank.

On Friday, all of those 12,000 or so ballots were run through a tabulator that figured out swiftly how to redistribute the ballots to the second-place picks listed, which determined the winner.

Theriault’s campaign said he will seek a recount.

“With the race for Maine’s Second Congressional District remaining the closest federal race in modern Maine history following the allocation of ranked choice votes, we are renewing our call for a state-funded automatic recount of the results,” Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick said in a statement Friday night. “Every Mainer’s voice should be heard and their vote counted in this historically close race and we have seen several anomalies that can only be rectified with a full recount. We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we work to ensure every vote is counted.”

In Maine, any congressional race whose final tally has less than a 1% gap differentiating the winner and loser is subject to a recount, at no cost to the candidates. In a recount, every ballot is scrutinized directly, officials said.

If that happens, which is likely, the recount will probably take a couple of weeks and begin in early December.

Golden said he is confident his win will stand.

“State Rep. Austin Theriault is within his rights to force a third accounting of ballots with a taxpayer-funded recount, but the votes have been counted twice now and my lead has been in the thousands of votes both times,” he said.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows reads out the results of the ranked choice voting tabulation Friday at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal