Eliot Cutler

Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is an American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing to Republican Paul LePage. In 2014 he garnered only 8.4%, placing third behind both the Democratic candidate as well as LePage, who was re-elected with 48.2% of the vote. Both times, he was claimed to be a spoiler for the Democratic candidate. Maine has since become the first state to use instant-runoff voting (ranked choice voting -- RCV) in its statewide elections.

Eliot Cutler

Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is an American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing to Republican Paul LePage. In 2014 he garnered only 8.4%, placing third behind both the Democratic candidate as well as LePage, who was re-elected with 48.2% of the vote. Both times, he was claimed to be a spoiler for the Democratic candidate. Maine has since become the first state to use instant-runoff voting (ranked choice voting -- RCV) in its statewide elections.