11:42 a.m. ET, October 25, 2020
Trump will make campaign stop in Maine on Sunday
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Kate Bennett
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump will campaign in Maine on Sunday, a campaign source told CNN. The additional stop has not yet been announced. The President is already scheduled to be in New England on Sunday since he has a 1 p.m. rally set for Manchester, New Hampshire.
Why does it matter? Maine is interesting politically. The state is home to one of the most competitive Senate races of the year, with GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who has declined to say whether she's voting for the President this year, fighting to hold onto her seat.
Maine is only one of two states where the winner in the general election of each congressional district receives one electoral vote. The state has two congressional districts (and then the statewide winner gets an additional two).
The Second Congressional District, which includes Bangor, has become a key focus for both campaigns. Vice President Mike Pence campaigned there earlier this week.
What happened in 2016? Despite Hillary Clinton carrying the state, Trump won the rural northern district, earning him one of Maine’s four electoral votes. Since then, Democrats flipped the district in the 2018 midterms, unseating the last Republican member of the US House from New England in the country's first use of ranked choice voting for a House race.
What's unique about Maine in the general election? Maine is using ranked choice voting at the presidential level for the first time this year. Voters can rank the various candidates in order of preference while casting their ballot. If no candidate gets at least 50% of the popular vote, the person finishing last is eliminated and then the second choice is considered. The counting continues until a candidate gets a majority of the vote. There are five candidates on the ballot.