For opponents of Question 2, it was an expected victory, but a welcome one nevertheless. "Voters across Maine have made it pretty clear that they're opposed to it," says campaign Communications Director Lizzie Reinholt. "As far as campaigning for it went, it was really great to have so much support throughout Maine, writing in letters and really bringing to their attention to Maine residents about the impact it was going to have on our communities and towns."

The measure was touted as a way of saving taxpayers money. Rheinholt, however, says it was more a case of unfairly giving tax breaks to those who can afford to buy newer cars, and shifting the tax burden elsewhere. "It's a really unfair tax shift," she says. "It reduces excise tax for a very small minority of Mainers and yet will likely result in increased property taxes for most property owners throughout the state."

Question 2 also had the state's municipalities worried, says Christopher Lockwood, director of the Maine Municipal Association. "From a municipal standpoint we were particularly concerned about Question 2, related to the excise tax, since that's such an important revenue source."

Lockwood says towns and cities rely on excise tax revenue to maintain their transportation infrastructure. "We have over 14,000 local roads and 850 local bridges in Maine, and this excise tax is a major revenue source to maintain that infrastructure."

"From the very begining one of our goals bringing Question 2 forward was to start the conversation about how we can reform Maine's excessive excise tax," says Chris Cinquemani, director of Maine Leads, a Yes on 2 campaign organization. Cinquemani was philosophical in defeat. "Question 2 wasn't the proposal for the majority of Mainers, but I am proud of the fact that we've started this conversation and more and more people are paying attention to the different options that we may have in the future to reduce this excessive tax."

Supporters of question 2 say the measure would have saved Maine taxpayers $80 million a year, while also promoting cleaner air and greater fuel efficiency. They also claim it would have helped boost the country's ailing auto industry, by making it cheaper to buy newer cars.