Maine gubernatorial election, 1970
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County results
Counties won by Curtis
Counties won by Erwin
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The 1970 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Maine Kenneth M. Curtis chose to seek re-election. Curtis won a landslide victory in the Democratic primary. His general election opponent was Maine Attorney General James Erwin, the Republican nominee. Erwin had also easily won his respective party primary and received the Republican nomination for governor. Curtis narrowly defeated challenger in one of the tightest elections in Maine history – the final margin of victory was a mere 890 votes. Curtis received 163,138 votes (50.14%), while Erwin had 162,248 votes (49.86%).
Although Governor Curtis kept his promise not to raise taxes, his creation of a new income tax law in 1969 caused his approval rating to fall. As a result of the new taxes, the debate about the expansion of state government became the main issue of the campaign. During his tenure, Curtis proposed gun control legislation, which would deny ownership to convicted felons, drug addicts, and those in mental institutions. This was quite controversial and irritated gun owners throughout the state of Maine. In January 1970, Curtis strongly pledged support for an oil refinery at Machiasport. Environmentalists, as well as the Maine Times – a recently established newspaper – opposed this proposal.
Prior to announcing his re-election candidacy, Curtis commissioned a poll of himself versus potential candidate James S. Erwin, conducted by consultant Oliver Quayle. The results of the poll showed Curtis trailing Erwin by a 28% margin. Quayle told Curtis that he had "never seen an incumbent in more trouble."
Incumbent Governor Kenneth M. Curtis was challenged by perennial candidate Plato Truman for the Democratic nomination. Nonetheless, Curtis defeated Truman in a landslide on the day of the primary, which was June 15, 1970. Curtis received 33,052 votes (63.18%) against Truman's 19,266 votes (38.83%). Winning a majority of the votes, Curtis became the Democratic gubernatorial nominee for the state of Maine in 1970 and avoided a run-off election.
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