I used the Bangor Daily News unofficial vote total and the Secretary of State totals from 2006 and 2008 to make a chart showing the total combined vote for each party in the two houses of the legislature. As you can see, while Maine Republicans did modestly better this year than in 2006, their vote was quite flat compared to ups and downs of the Democratic vote. Democratic voters dropped off the map this year. If they turn out in 2012 anywhere near the turnout in 2008, they can change everything in a hurry.

Furthermore, the number of seats in the Senate does not reflect the total votes for each party very well; in the House the Republicans won the cumulative vote 50-47 and in the Senate they won 52-46. The Republican votes for were more uniformly spread out across the state, however. Democrats in Portland racked up large winning margins, particularly in the State Senate, while Republicans elsewhere in the state won consistently by smaller margins. Thus the reason why Democrats can lose the total vote by 6% but still be down in seats 20-14.