Maine: Two Hope Select Board members survive recall vote

Hope Select Board members Bruce Haffner (128-128) and Elinor Goldberg (102-154) survived recall votes. The recall provision is an "absentee veto" won, where the recall needs to get 40% of the turnout for the last gubernatorial election. That number was 374, and they only got 277, so while the Haffner tie vote looks close (and presumably ties go to the elected official -- you stay in office), in this case it did not matter.

The recall seems to be about Haffner's push to check out a snowplow contract that the city signed, as well as questions over the concealment of a contract (and a secret taping of Haffner).  It seems that the Board Chair and the City Administrator were pushing for the recall, so it is very much an inter-board dispute.

Hope only recently adopted the recall law.