BANGOR, Maine — Republican Paul LePage declared victory Wednesday afternoon in Bangor in the race for Maine's 2nd Congressional District, even though news organizations had not called the race and his Democratic opponent, State Auditor Matt Dunlap, had not conceded.

"I am declaring victory," LePage said at a brief news conference, WAGM reported.

LePage, a former two-term governor, said his campaign had been calling towns whose results were not yet in and had concluded Dunlap could not catch up. "There's no path to victory for my opponent," he said, according to The Maine Wire. He put his lead at about 4,000 votes, a figure that had not been reflected in published tallies.

He also pledged to work with "anyone and everyone that wants to put Maine first," according to WAGM and NEWS CENTER Maine.

Where the count stands

The published numbers show a much tighter race. With 93% of results counted, LePage had 49.9% of the vote to Dunlap's 48.8%, according to Bangor Daily News totals gathered with Decision Desk HQ, the Maine Morning Star reported. The Associated Press, which had also not called the race, had LePage at 50% and Dunlap at 49.9% with 88% counted.

The lead changed hands as results came in. Dunlap led by about 1,200 votes early Wednesday, but his lead had shrunk to 269 votes by noon, and LePage moved ahead after the western Maine town of Strong reported, the Portland Press Herald reported. About 30,000 votes were still outstanding, most of them in rural towns that lean Republican, the paper said. The district's larger Democratic-leaning cities, including Bangor, Lewiston and Augusta, had already reported.

The race could still go to a ranked-choice tabulation. Maine uses ranked-choice voting in congressional races, and a candidate who does not win a majority of first-choice votes does not win outright. A declared write-in candidate, Gregory A. Ward, had 161 votes as of early Wednesday afternoon, according to the Press Herald. The Maine Morning Star reported that a recount is likely.

A swing seat

The seat is held by Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. A LePage win would end a streak of four straight Democratic victories in the district, WGME reported, and would make him the only Republican in the country to flip a Democratic-held House seat this cycle, according to the Press Herald. Donald Trump has carried the district in three straight presidential elections.

LePage, 78, served as governor from 2011 to 2019 and lost a 2022 bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Dunlap, a former Maine secretary of state, won the Democratic nomination in June after a ranked-choice runoff against three other candidates.