( CNN ) -- Independent candidate Eliot Cutler conceded the Maine governor 's race to Republican Paul LePage on Wednesday after results showed the two separated by less than 8,500 votes . Cutler , an attorney , said he spoke to LePage and told him `` it appeared he would be the winner . '' With 97 percent of precincts reporting , LePage , currently the mayor of Waterville , garnered 38 percent of the vote to Cutler 's 37 percent . Democrat Libby Mitchell , president of the state Senate , was a distant third with 19 percent . `` I did n't want to stand in his way , '' Cutler said of LePage . `` I did n't want to extend ... the uncertainty , because I did n't think it was good for him or the state . Obviously , if by some miracle official results change things , they do , but I do n't expect it . '' In an address to supporters Wednesday , LePage said his campaign `` stayed on message despite many ups and downs , some of my making . '' `` I 'm not a politician . I 'm a businessman who served this community as mayor . I ran for governor because I believe the people of Maine need to be ahead of politics ... today the voters agreed : people before politics , '' he added . The current governor , Democrat John Baldacci , can not serve another term due to term-limit laws in the state . Although Maine has trended Democratic in recent years , the governorship has steadily changed hands between Republicans , Democrats and independents for the past 50 years . In the century before that , Republicans dominated the office .
NEW : LePage pledges to put `` people before politics '' Cutler concedes the race . LePage is currently the mayor of Waterville .