Rick Bennett ’81 made the news on Monday as he cast a vote in the Electoral College for Donald Trump. As Chairman of the Maine Republican Party, Bennett was selected by his party as one of their four electors. In the Electoral College, Maine and Nebraska do not follow the winner-take-all system used in the other forty-eight states. In Maine, the winner in each of the two congressional districts receives an electoral vote. A majority of the voters in Congressional District 2 voted for Mr. Trump, so one of the Republican electors could cast a ballot for Trump, and Rick was chosen to do that.
Electors can be “faithless” and vote for whomever they want, but Bennett made it clear in statements to the press that he would honor the wishes of the voters in the 2nd District and vote for Mr. Trump, despite receiving many emails, etc. encouraging him not to do so.