# legislature/ — known gaps and checks (v1.5)

1. **Member-level party for the 1st–50th Legislatures (1820–1871) — being transcribed (v1.5, P-005).** The Law Library records give no party before 1872. Since v1.5 members' parties come, Legislature by Legislature, from the party lists contemporary newspapers printed (`party_1820_1871/`, README and `batches.md` there); so far the 50th (1871, from the Portland Daily Press's list of Jan. 3, 1871), the 11th (1831: 145 of 151 House members and 19 of 20 senators found; the Eastern Argus's own count, 86 / 62, equals Dubin's), the 13th (1833: 154 of 184 House members and all 25 senators; the Argus's counts 97 / 59 and 15 / 10 equal Dubin's), the 12th (1832: 144 of 180 House members, 25 of 26 senators) part of the 14th House (1834: 113 of 185) the 15th House (1835: 159 of 186; Whigs 68, Dubin 66) and the 16th–18th Houses (1836: 89 of 184; 1837: 139 of 185; 1838: 140 of 184) and the 19th and 21st Houses (1839: 162 of 187; 1841: 151 of 184). The 22nd House (1842): 174 of 219; the 26th (1846): 129 of 150; the 50th (1871): House 149 of 153, Senate 30 of 30. The 49th (1870): House 143 of 154, Senate 30 of 30. The 48th (1869): House 145 of 151, Senate 29 of 29. The 27th House (1847): 109 of 148. The 42nd (1863): House 144 of 152, Senate 29 of 30; the 34th Senate (1855): 21 of 31 (the rest were chosen by the Legislature). No party list found yet for 1829, 1839 or 1842 (10th, 20th, 23rd). For the 14th the Argus marked only its own Democratic Republicans in a three-way race, so unmarked members are coded OPP ("Not on the Democratic list") rather than a party. Elsewhere the pages still show Dubin's chamber totals (1828–1870; none exist for 1820–1827) and members without party. Lists mark party by typeface or a star, so they are read from the page images, not the scanned text; where two papers disagree the more complete list wins and the disagreement is kept (`members_party_1820_1871.csv` basis CONFLICT: 4 members in 1831, 3 in 1833). Known gaps: 1829 (the Argus refused to publish a party list; the Huntoon papers' list not yet found), 1828 (Dubin: "Adams majority" only).
2. **378 members after 1871 have no party in the Library records.** Counted as "unknown" in composition. Checking against the Legislative Registers: e.g. 1919 House Register R 110 / D 41 vs database R 109 / D 40 + 2 blank; 1957 matches exactly; Senate years mostly exact. Most differences are blanks and Progressive Republicans.
3. **Mid-term joiners before 1983.** Records for the 1st–110th Legislatures don't say who joined mid-term. **v1.3 (Matt, 2026-10-05): the rule is adopted** — the 80 members in `joined_late_pre1983_applied.csv` whose notes show a later start are `joined_late` (the 14 "review" rows included by Matt's decision; John Mitchell Sr., elected before the 105th opened, is not). 21 Legislatures are now counted at the start of session. **Still above the seat count at the start** (start count vs Dubin's printed chamber total, or the 151-seat House from the 73rd on where Dubin gives no total): 11th House 151 (Dubin 149), 12th Senate 26 (25), 14th House 185 (181) and Senate 26 (25), 16th and 18th Senate 26 (25), 22nd House 214 (204) and Senate 32 (31), House 28th 152, 31st 155, 35th 154, 36th 153, 42nd 152, 49th 154, 50th 153, 52nd 152, 54th 152, 60th 152, 61st 152, 63rd 153, 71st 155, 82nd 152, 83rd 154, 86th 152, 94th 152, 95th 153 (151), 65th and 74th Senate 32 (31), 101st Senate 35 (34). Most of these Legislatures are still counted as everyone who served: replacements whose notes say nothing about when they joined. The Legislative Registers (1915–1985 scans) would settle the 20th-century ones. Legislatures from 1983 on: none over.
4. **Maps before 2004 are approximate.** 1977–2002: districts rebuilt from the towns each member represented. Before 1977: towns shaded by member residence; members elected from class towns or at-large in a county appear only in their home town. Pre-district Senate shaded by county. Labeled "approximate" on each page.
5. **Town names that don't match a map town.** Old names are aliased (Eden→Bar Harbor, Danville→Auburn, Deering→Portland, Bloomfield→Skowhegan, Lyndon→Caribou, Maysville→Presque Isle, Patricktown→Somerville, Kirkland→Hudson, etc.). Unorganized Territory entries and a few vanished places stay unmatched and are listed in text only.
6. **Party coding.** The Library's party strings are coded REP, DEM, GB (Greenback/Fusion), UNE (unenrolled; since v1.3 also for the Library's plain "Independent", Matt's ruling of 2026-10-05 — this includes 34 member-terms of "Independents" in the 51st–90th Legislatures (1872–1942)), GRN, PRG (Progressive), LIB_1870S (Liberal Republican), IR, ID, PRO (Prohibition), AM, CSI, LBT. "Independent Republican/Democrat" are kept separate, not folded into R/D.
7. **Constitutional officers — 16 CHECK rows** (`flag = CHECK`): party not yet found for nine Treasurers (1820–1864), two Attorneys General (1857–1860), and State Auditor Jacob Norton; source conflicts on Secretaries of State Alden Jackson (1857) and Sumner Chadbourne (1876–78) and on the Evans/Abbott AG dates (1853–1857). 13 CORRECTED rows fix Law Library typos (spellings, years), each explained in `note`.
8. **Governors' party** for the early Democratic-Republican/National Republican/Whig era uses the labels in the sources as given; the page groups them only for color.
9. **Dubin vs. the Law Library, 1871–2006** (`dubin_vs_lawlibrary.csv`): D and R agree exactly in 51 of 146 chamber-years and within 2 seats in 100. The big gaps (1871, 1882, 1896–1900 House) are members the Law Library leaves without party, plus Fusion/Greenback coding in 1880–82 and Progressives in 1912–14. Not used to change the Law Library counts.
10. **Dubin's narrative is not fully reliable.** He dates single-member House districts to 1968 and says multi-member districts were split in 1993; the Law Library records show numbered House districts from the 1974 election, some still multi-member (119 districts for 151 seats in 1974 and 1976), and 151 single-member districts from the 1978 election on. His Senate chronology (county-wide until 1968, then districts; 20 → 31 seats by 1841, 33 in 1932, 34 in 1962, 32 in 1968, 33 in 1972, 35 in 1984) matches the records and is used on the Senate page.
11. **v1.2 decisions to confirm (2026-10-05).** (a) Settled in v1.3: Sen. Bennett is UNE (unenrolled). (b) Settled: Nancy Theriault is a Republican (Matt, 2026-10-05), as in `members.csv` and `officeholders.csv`. (c) Settled in v1.4: Kathy Javner died on 1/10/2026 (WGME, 1/12/2026: "passed away on Saturday"; Wikipedia "Kathy Javner"); now in `note_date` in `members.csv` and in the officeholders note. (d) Settled in v1.4 as far as the sources go: Crockett unenrolled about September 2025 — Maine Public (9/25/2025) says he had "recently unenrolled as a Democrat" when he announced an unenrolled run for Governor on 9/24/2025; no exact day is published, so `fix_note` gives the month.
12. **Contested seats.** In the 116th House (HD 101) and 127th Senate (SD 25) the member actually seated when the session opened was later replaced by the winner of the contest. v1.2 counts the permanently seated member at the start (Townsend, Breen) and marks the provisional member `provisional_seat` — a deliberate choice; the 120th Senate's Brennan (provisionally seated after a special election) is simply a joiner.
13. **`build_legislature.py` does not know the v1.2/v1.3 corrections.** They are applied afterwards by `fix_v1_2_members.py`, `fix_v1_2_officers_party_group.py`, `fix_v1_3_members.py` and `fix_v1_3_officers_unenrolled.py`, in that order; and, since v1.4, `fix_v1_4_members.py`; run them after any rebuild from the raw sources. (`build_legislature.py`'s own party-change reader still understands only "Changed party from X to Y on m/d/yyyy"; `fix_v1_4_members.py` re-reads every note with the wider pattern.)
14. **The Library's own wording is kept.** `party_db` and the quoted Library notes still say "Independent" where the Library does (e.g. "Changed party from Republican to Independent on 1/3/2019"); only our codes, labels and our own notes say Unenrolled.
15. **120th Senate (2001–2002): power sharing, not a party majority (Matt, 2026-10-07).** The November 2000 election left the Senate 17 D – 17 R – 1 unenrolled (Jill Goldthwait, Bar Harbor, who caucused with neither party). Under a power-sharing agreement Democrat Michael Michaud was President in 2001 and Republican Richard Bennett in 2002 (each President Pro Tempore in the other's year), and the Secretary of the Senate and committee posts were shared. The party balance changed during Bennett's year: Republican Joel Abromson (SD 27, Portland) died and Democrat Michael Brennan won the 3/5/2002 special election (seated 3/22/2002 after a disputed count) — 18 D – 16 R – 1 U to the end of the term. (Per the Law Library records it was Abromson, not the unenrolled senator, who died; Goldthwait served the whole term.) The page therefore labels the chamber **"Power sharing"**, never "Democratic plurality"; lists both Presidents in order of service everywhere; calls the four Senate leaders Democratic / Republican Leader and Assistant Leader (the Library's titles) rather than majority/minority; and explains the arrangement in a note. The Law Library's list of Senate Presidents skips the 120th, so both are added (since v1.4 in the page bundle `leg_data.json` itself; `leaders.csv` already had both). All of it is applied by `fix_power_sharing()` in `site-design/legislature/build_leg_page.py`; `members.csv` is unchanged. Generic rule added at the same time: any chamber whose two largest parties are tied, with no agreement on file, reads "Tied" (none other exists today).
16. **Election results name a winner the Legislature did not seat (data audit II P-4; v1.4 documents, nothing changed). — Resolved in election results v3.13 (2026-10-15): the recount and contest cases now carry the certified recount and name the member seated (`recounts_v3.13.csv` in the v3.13/v3.14 data zip); the table below is kept as the record of what was found.** In each case below the election results' `winners` is the candidate who led the canvass narrowly, but the Law Library's member records seat the runner-up — a recount, a contest in the House or Senate, or (before 1880) the majority rule. The results are left as they are (Matt's rule: winners are not changed without his decision); the member tables follow the Law Library. Evidence: `members.csv` and the contests listed (vote figures from `election-results` results files).

| Contest | Results winner (votes) | Seated per the Law Library (votes) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-11-07 State House D102 | Michael Shaw 1,601 | Gary Moore 1,588 (123rd, Standish) | Shaw is not in the 123rd; his first term is 2009 (Wikipedia). The 2006 recount figure is not on file |
| 1976-11-02 State House D29 | Michael Gibbs 1,925 | Gordon Cunningham 1,914 (108th, Gray) | Cunningham "Qualified 2/17/1977" (joined_late) — why the 108th House starts at 150 |
| 1966-11-08 Auburn (4 seats) | Romeo Laberge 3,781 (4th) | Peter Snowe 3,767 (103rd) | |
| 1966-11-08 Cornish–Limerick–Newfield–Parsonsfield–Shapleigh–Waterboro (1) | Raymond Bradeen 918 | George Carroll 912 (103rd, Limerick) | |
| 1964-11-03 Avon–Eustis–Kingfield–…–Rangeley (1) | Ernest Smith 1,284 | George Palmer 1,278 (102nd, Phillips) | |
| 1964-11-03 South Portland (2) | Ronald McKinnon 4,585 (2nd) | Roy Haugen 4,501 (102nd) | |
| 1960-11-08 Auburn (3) | Fernand Pontbriand 5,391 (3rd) | Charles Waterman 5,337 (100th) | |
| 1960-11-08 Durham–Lisbon | Frank Bowie 1,385 | Andrew Karkos Sr. 1,378 (100th, Lisbon) | The audit thought Karkos absent; he is in the 100th House |
| 1960-11-08 Portland (7) | John Hanscomb 14,125 (7th) | Ronald Kellam 13,993 (100th) | The 100th has the six leaders plus Kellam; Barbara Roberts (14,000) is not in the 100th |
| 1958-09-08 Bangor (4) | John Barry 3,739 (4th) | Samuel Philbrick 3,640 (99th) | |
| 1956-09-10 Harrison–Naples–Otisfield | Samuel Pitts 572 | Gardner Morrill 562 (98th, Harrison) | |
| 1950-09-11 Old Town | John Nahra 1,091 | Alexander Latno 1,084 (95th) | |
| 1944-09-11 Lewiston | Ernest Ouellette 6,968 (4th) | Louis Jalbert 6,898 (92nd) | The 92nd lists five Lewiston members including both "Ernest Ouelette" and Jalbert, and Leo Bernier "Resigned before 1946 special session": the seat count needs the 1945 Register |
| 1869-09-13 Senate, Knox | P. J. Carlton 2,602 | Ruggles Torrey 2,539 (49th, Saint George) | Majority era: without a majority the Legislature filled the seat |
| 1869-09-13 Senate, Penobscot | T. B. Kingsbury 6,234 | Charles Buffum 6,213 (49th) | Same; Thomas Kingsbury of Bradford sits in the 49th House. *P-005 (2026-10-15): the Portland Daily Press lists of Jan. 5, 1869 and Jan. 5, 1870 both print "Thos. R. Kingsbury" / "T R Kingsbury" among the Penobscot **senators** (1870: Cleaves, Kingsbury, Buffum, Fuller; Torrey and Carleton for Knox), and the 1870 list gives Bradford's House seat to M. Wilson — so the Law Library's "Thomas Kingsbury, Bradford, House" in the 48th and 49th is probably the senator misfiled. Not changed; left unlinked in `party_1820_1871/`.* |

To finish: the Legislative Register / House and Senate Journals for 1944–1976 and the 2006 recount (Law Library scans) would let the results carry `winner_basis` "seated after recount/contest" — a decision for Matt.
17. **Still open from data audit II (need the Legislative Registers, 1915–1985):** P-6 (18 pre-1974 House winners and Law Library members contradict each other in non-close races, e.g. 1958 Eastport Al Miliano vs Hermon Boone, 1954 Mechanic Falls Ralph Abbott vs Frank Foster) and P-7 (8 party conflicts between canvass and Library, 1952–1978, e.g. Clyde Ford 1952 R vs D). Nothing changed.

18. **Early party strength: estimates and Dubin's swapped footnotes (v1.6, 2026-10-16).** (a) House party totals for the 9th–25th Legislatures (1829–1845) include seats **estimated** from the opening-day Speaker (21st: Clerk) vote — `chamber_estimates_1829_1845.csv`; they are estimates, not counts, and the page marks them. They should give way to member-level parties as P-005 transcribes them (re-run `fix_v1_6_estimates.py` after each v1.5 batch). (b) Dubin's footnoted Speaker votes for the 1829 election (114 J / 62 NR) and the 1832 election (73 J / 71 NR) do not match the newspapers (Penobscot Journal Jan. 12, 1830: Goodenow NR 73, Ruggles J 71; Eastern Republican Jan. 8, 1833: Clifford J 110, Dane NR 61) — they appear swapped, with the 73/71 parties reversed. Kept as printed in `dubin_maine_composition.csv`. (c) The 1st–8th Legislatures are labelled the Democratic-Republican one-party era with no seat counts (Matt, 2026-10-16). (d) The 9th Senate (1829) still has no figures (Dubin: "Adams majority"); its President, Nathan Cutler, was chosen 15 of 17 with no party contest (Eastern Argus Jan. 9, 1829), so no estimate is possible from the vote. (e) Senate Presidents 1829–1830 (Nathan Cutler, Joshua Hall) are coded DR in the Law Library list although the parties had split. Wikipedia calls both Democrats (Cutler cited, Hall uncited). The 1830 vote (Jan. 13, after days without a choice) was Hall 8, Robert P. Dunlap (the Jackson leader) 6, Steele 1, blank 1 — which suggests Hall was elected against the Jackson candidate, so his party is genuinely uncertain. Not changed; asked of the Law Library (P-187).