The 2026 political primary season is over. Well, that is, sort of over, as we still don’t know who won the nomination for governor.

Despite whizz-bang computerized voting machines that tally numbers in a split second, we still don’t know which of the seven Republican hopefuls, and the five Democrat wannabes, will be their party standard-bearer on Nov. 3.

Blame it on whoever came up with the idea that, in America, as we celebrate our 250th birthday, we are no longer equal. The standard test of one man/one vote, the old gold standard in Maine, is gone. Now we live in a sort of Mulligan-land, where the loser gets a sort of do-over if no one gathers more than 50% of the total.

And this year, that happened in both parties' gubernatorial races. If you were one of the 1800-plus voters in Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport, you were given a chance to rank your first choice for governor. Then you could mark your second choice. The folks in Augusta tallied the first-choice candidates, and no one got 50%. So they are now recounting, going back to the ballots to see who got the most second-place, third-place votes, and so forth.

Then it gets a bit complicated. Kind of like the old saw about the guy who asked for the time and was told how to build a watch factory. Or a coach trying to explain the infield fly rule to a little leaguer’s mother.

I clicked on the Secretary of State’s web page for an explanation and found one, well, I sort of found one. It is confusing. They say the results will be revealed sometime this week. Stay tuned.  

On the Senate side, Democrat Graham Platner, 41, the Marine combat veteran/oyster farmer/harbormaster from Sullivan (population 1,000 or so), convinced 72.3 % of Democrats to choose him to oppose Republican Susan Collins, 73, who has served in the Senate since 1996. She was unopposed.

Platner got out early, worked hard, and traveled the state speaking at 50-plus town hall events. His bellicose speaking style and commanding stage presence earned him wide support, but Washington and Augusta party leaders favored Gov. Janet Mills, 78. Then she pulled out as Platner gathered support. 

Sen. Collins is a pro. She smiled and quietly worked in Washington. On the weekends, she visited the Maine towns whose civic needs she helped cover with federal bucks, leaving the dirty work to well-funded outside PACs.

Then the GOP opposition researchers got their knives out after discovering Platner made some unseemly sexist posts, had troubling relationships with former girlfriends, and sent dirty texts to women other than his wife. The Oppo research gang found a video showing he had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest. They said it resembled a Nazi symbol.

He covered the questionable tattoo and explained he got it in Split, Croatia, while he was on shore leave with his Marine infantry buddies. For the record, it was not a swastika. And, for the record, Platner was not the first young Marine to wake up in a strange port with a roaring hangover and a strange tattoo.

Platner has fessed up to his errors, disavowed his posts, apologized for his problems with girlfriends and the tattoo, blaming much of his conduct on PTSD, combat stress. He said he tried to self-medicate his devils with booze.

The GOP opposition, with help from national press, including the NYTimes, piled on Platner for his alleged improper conduct, and some nervous Democrats suggested his background made him unqualified to represent them. Admittedly, the oysterman is a flawed candidate.

Still, on Election Day, Maine Democrats ignored the bad stuff as 153,701 picked him over Mills, who earned 41,098 votes. So, now the November general election field is set, except that we don’t know which Democratic and Republican candidates for governor will be on the ballot. Maybe this week, the Secretary of State’s ranked choice voting computers will tell us who won the race.

Meanwhile, the ad creators will pile upon us with spots and posts pointing fingers at anything that might cause voters to reject the other side. You can bet you will find garbage on your phone filled with A.I. images and tales that will curl your hair.

The old political rules no longer apply. The old pols are being pushed out by supporters whose vocabulary is coarse, and hold cell phones filled with stuff they don’t want their mothers to view. Until November, expect both sides to spout outrageous claims that all of us know are full of made-up bull hockey.