Despite what the aggressive arguments playing out nationally might lead you to believe, Mainers hew to the political middle in a way that’s rare across America.

Except for presidential races, if you look at who’s won and lost Maine’s major elections over the decades, the state’s reputation for tilting toward the Democrats doesn’t hold up.

There’s a reason its three statewide offices — the governor and two senators — are held by a Republican, a Democrat and an independent.

Since the Pine Tree State lost its third member of the U.S. House after the 1960 census, it has chosen 17 people to serve in it. Nine of them were Democrats and eight Republicans. Interestingly, given today’s political map, half the GOP House members from that period in Maine hailed from the 1st District, which has been solidly Democratic for the past 30 years.

The 2nd District, where Democratic incumbent Rep. Jared Golden has won four straight matchups, has elected four members to the House from each party since 1962, including Republican Bruce Poliquin, a two-term incumbent whom Golden defeated to capture the seat.

And it’s not just House elections that veer toward middle ground.

In 1958, breaking a string of Republican victories that began during World War I, voters picked Democrat Ed Muskie, a Rumford native coming off a successful stint as governor, as one of the state’s two U.S. senators. Since then, Maine has had three Democratic senators, three Republican senators and one independent.

The only other statewide races, for governor, show a similar pattern.

Starting with Muskie’s Blaine House victory in 1954, there have been six Democrats who have served as governor and four Republicans, plus independents James Longley of Lewiston and Angus King of Brunswick. The overall tally of the winners of the congressional and gubernatorial races since Muskie broke the old GOP control of Maine is remarkably even: 18 Democrats, 15 Republicans and two independents.

It might seem fair to count King, now a U.S. senator, as a Democrat; he caucuses and votes with Democrats most of the time. But Longley leaned Republican, meaning even the independents break down evenly.

Back in 1992, Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot, a business leader whose campaign consisted largely of warning about the national debt, did so well in Maine that he racked up more votes than incumbent President George H.W. Bush, a Republican who lived part-time at his family compound in Kennebunkport.

Democrat Bill Clinton won the state, though he had the backing of just 38% of its voters. If that had been a ranked-choice race, Bush or Perot might actually have won Maine in 1992. Since then, Democratic presidential contenders have captured Maine easily. Yet even that comes with a significant footnote.

More than half a century ago, when the two congressional districts in the state were less divided politically, Maine decided to divvy up its electoral votes so that the presidential winner in each district would get one of the state’s four votes in the Electoral College.

That did not matter until 2016, when Republican Donald Trump lost the state but won in the 2nd Congressional District, capturing its single electoral vote while losing Maine’s other three to Democrat Hillary Clinton. In both 2020 and 2024, Trump also won the 2nd District.

Maine’s political leaders themselves also often hold, or at least claim, the middle ground.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, for instance, has successfully convinced Mainers since 1996 that she isn’t beholden to the Republican Party. She often proudly points to her awards for bipartisanship and friendships that stretch across party lines. Golden has held leadership roles in congressional caucuses that promote bipartisan approaches. He is also more likely to vote with the Republicans than other Democrats in the House.

While it is certainly true that some diehard party loyalists have won in Maine, including former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, the big picture shows how much the state’s voters typically turn to less partisan politicians.

As the state warily approaches the 2026 election — where voters will pick a new governor, a senator and both members of the House — it’s worth keeping in mind that despite the fiercely partisan spirit afoot in the nation’s capital, the state is, was and will likely remain, more favorable to moderates than most places.

As I see it, we’re just not that into rage.