Did Maine state senators represent counties until the mid-1960s? | Fact brief

Until the mid-1960s, Maine senators represented counties rather than today’s population-based districts. Under the state constitution in effect in 1965, every county received one to five senators, depending on its population.

That system changed amid a national reapportionment revolution. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. Sims that both chambers of state legislatures generally must be apportioned by population, establishing the principle commonly known as “one person, one vote.”

Maine voters responded in November 1966, approving a constitutional amendment that replaced county representation with senatorial districts centered around roughly 30,000 residents.

When lawmakers failed to agree on a map, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court stepped in and drew 32 districts in 1967.

Counties still played a role under the new maps, as the amendment instructed mapmakers to follow county lines as much as possible.