A federal judge is tossing a lawsuit by a Republican incumbent congressman from Maine who lost the nation's first congressional election held by a candidate-ranking system.
Democrat Jared Golden defeated U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin after voters from two trailing candidates were eliminated and reassigned to the remaining field.
Poliquin contends the system was unconstitutional.
But Judge Lance Walker, a recent Trump administration appointee, rejected Poliquin's requests that the courts declare him the winner or order a new election for the 2nd Congressional District.
Poliquin's lawyer had argued the candidate-ranking system requires voters to "guess" which candidates would survive until the second, runoff-style round of tabulations. Walker heard arguments about the case last week at U.S. District Court in Bangor.
