Lincoln County Republicans and Democrats held events separately, in Damariscotta. On the afternoon of the election, Republicans held an open house at their headquarters at 15 Courtyard Lane, with a soup and chili luncheon. They planned a celebration on Nov. 16, at Damariscotta Lake Farm in Jefferson, but no election night vote tally party was scheduled. Robin Mayer, who was running for District 90, joked that she was going to take advantage of the evening off to clean her carpets. “I have to go to work out of state,” she said, “so I won’t be there for the celebration party, either.”

Part of the reason for the early night is that the Republican Headquarters’ lease was ending Nov. 9 at 5 p.m., she said.

The Democratic candidates, however, were spending Tuesday evening canvassing and phone banking, and planned to gather at the Democratic headquarters on Main Street at 8 p.m. to share dinner, wait for the vote tallies and watch the national returns. Their prepared white board testified to a long night ahead.

The real story in central Lincoln County, however, was the turnout.

At the Town Office in Damariscotta, at 5 p.m., with three hours to go in the election, Registrar of Voters Michelle Cameron said that of 1.750 registered voters, 770 had voted in person, and 440 had voted absentee. That amounted to a little over 69 percent of the vote in Damariscotta.

In Newcastle, however, Town Clerk Dawn Burns said that 1,173 voters out of 1,400 registered voters had cast ballots, and the town also registered 60 new voters. That means that by 5 p.m., over 80 percent of the electorate had cast a ballot, and business was still very brisk.

One of the poll workers said that 75 people were waiting at the door before the polls opened, and Burns said she was nearly out of ballots, and would have to ask for permission to use leftover absentee ballots. “If those run out, we’ll have to ask permission to make copies,” she said. “We’ll probably need them.”