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Republican Paul LePage wins Maine’s 2nd District House seat after ranked-choice count

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets across the spectrum.

5 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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Republican Paul LePage won Maine’s 2nd Congressional District House seat after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced late Thursday that the ranked-choice tabulation gave him more than 50 percent to Democrat Matt Dunlap’s 49 percent. The Associated Press had called the race, and Dunlap had conceded. LePage, a former Maine governor, will succeed retiring Democrat Jared Golden in the rural, sprawling 2nd District. He is attending House freshman orientation in Washington, where his senior adviser said the count only confirmed what was already known.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Paul LePage won Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat after the ranked-choice tabulation.

    Reported byLeft2Center1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times, The Washington Post
    Center
    Roll Call
    Right
    The Center Square

  2. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced that LePage had more than 50 percent to Democrat Matt Dunlap’s 49 percent.

    One outletThe Center Square· Right

  3. Dunlap conceded the race about a week before the official count.

    One outletThe Center Square· Right

  4. LePage will succeed retiring Democratic Representative Jared Golden.

    One outletThe Washington Post· Left

  5. LePage attended House freshman orientation in Washington, according to his senior adviser.

    One outletThe Center Square· Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that LePage won Maine’s 2nd District seat after the ranked-choice count. The left and center headlines stress the Republican gain of an open or Democratic-held seat, while the right-leaning report emphasizes the official result and LePage’s transition to Congress.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    The New York Times and Washington Post headlines state the result plainly, one as a flip of a Democratic seat to Republicans and the other as a Republican win, and label Dunlap as a progressive Democrat.

    Republican Paul LePage wins House race in Maine’s 2nd District
    The Washington PostLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Roll Call’s headline reports LePage as the declared winner of an open seat and its description leads with the Associated Press call and LePage’s Trump comparison.

    Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage declared winner of open House seat
    Roll CallCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    The Center Square headline says LePage wins the seat and its report stresses the official result after the ranked-choice tabulation and LePage’s transition to Congress.

    LePage wins Maine's 2nd Congressional District
    The Center SquareRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    bombastic

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded modifier

    bombasticMore neutral: former governor

    The word judges LePage’s temperament rather than reporting a fact about the race.

    Paul LePage, a bombastic former governor of Maine who once described himself as “Donald Trump before Donald…

    Used byThe New York Times (Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Republican gain of a Democratic seat
  • Dunlap as a progressive Democrat
  • Golden’s seat held by Democrats
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Associated Press call after the ranked-choice count
  • Open seat after Golden’s retirement
  • LePage’s “Donald Trump before Donald Trump” remark
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • Roll CallCenter

    Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage declared winner of open House seat

    Paul LePage, the former Maine governor who once said he was “Donald Trump before Donald Trump,” is heading to Congress. The Associated Press called the race for the open 2nd District on Thursday after the Maine Secretary of State’s office tabulated the votes under the state’s …

    Read at Roll Call (opens in a new tab)

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Official result after ranked-choice tabulation
  • Adviser’s statement that the count confirmed the outcome
  • LePage’s orientation in Washington
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    2 hr 22 min later

    Its first report, Nov 12, 1:36 PM EST

  • Center

    First to report

    Roll Call, Nov 12, 11:14 AM EST

  • Right

    7 hr 6 min later

    Its first report, Nov 12, 6:21 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Roll CallCenterNov 12, 11:14 AM EST
  2. The Washington PostLeftNov 12, 1:36 PM EST
  3. The New York TimesLeftNov 12, 2:49 PM EST
  4. The Center SquareRightNov 12, 6:21 PM EST
  5. The Epoch TimesFar RightNov 12, 6:45 PM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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