Around New England state, communist stayed (8)
I believe the answer is:
remained
'stayed' is the definition.
('remain' can be a synonym of 'stay')
'around new england state communist' is the wordplay.
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'new england state' becomes 'maine' (I've seen this before).
'communist' becomes 'red' (red is a kind of communist).
'maine' inserted inside 'red' is 'REMAINED'.
(Other definitions for remained that I've seen before include "Stayed behind" , "Was left" , "didn't move" , "Stayed put as I meander" .)