2026 Maine gubernatorial election

2026 Maine gubernatorial election

The 2026 Maine gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the 76th governor of Maine. Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term. This election will coincide with a U.S. Senate election, U.S. House elections for Maine's two congressional districts, and various other state, county, and local elections. Although Maine has adopted ranked-choice voting, it is only used for primary and federal general elections. Therefore, the primary will be conducted with ranked-choice voting, and the general election will be conducted with the traditional plurality voting system. The primary elections will be held on June 9, 2026.

Background

2026 Maine gubernatorial election

Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills was re-elected with 55.69% of the vote in (/wiki/2022Mainegubernatorialelection) over Republican former governor Paul LePage. Maine has not elected consecutive governors from the same party since Republican Burton M. Cross succeeded Republican Frederick G. Payne after (/wiki/1952Mainegubernatorialelection). Conversely, Mills's 2022 re-election, held under Democratic president Joe Biden, was the first time Mainers had elected a governor from the same party as the president since Republican John R. McKernan Jr. was re-elected under Republican president George H. W. Bush in (/wiki/1990Mainegubernatorialelection).

A sparsely populated state in New England, Maine is one of the most rural states in the nation and is considered to be moderately blue, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since (/wiki/1992UnitedStatespresidentialelectioninMaine). In (/wiki/2024UnitedStatespresidentialelectioninMaine), the state voted for Kamala Harris by seven points. Both houses of the Maine Legislature are controlled by the Maine Democratic Party, and Maine's two congressional districts are held by Democrats. A Republican has not received a majority of the vote in a gubernatorial election since (/wiki/1962Mainegubernatorialelection), when incumbent Republican John H. Reed received 50.08% of the vote. However, the state still maintains a Republican senator, as Susan Collins won the 2020 U.S. senate election.

Democratic primary

Declared

• Shenna Bellows, Maine Secretary of State (2021–present) and nominee for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2014UnitedStatesSenateelectioninMaine) • Troy Jackson, former President of the Maine Senate (2018–2024) and candidate for Maine's 2nd congressional district in (/wiki/2014UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinMaine#District2) • Angus King III, energy executive and son of U.S. Senator and former governor Angus King • Hannah Pingree, former director of the Maine Governor's Office of Policy Innovation, former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives (2008–2010), and daughter of U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree • Nirav Shah, former principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023–2025) and former director of the Maine CDC (2019–2023)

Withdrawn

• Jason Cherry, attorney and independent candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2024UnitedStatesSenateelectioninMaine) (running for state representative)

Declined

• Joe Baldacci, state senator (2020–present) and brother of former governor John Baldacci (running for U.S. House, endorsed Jackson) • Jared Golden, U.S. representative from Maine's 2nd congressional district (2019–present) • Dan Kleban, brewer (ran for U.S. Senate) • Adam Lee, car dealer

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of January 15, 2026
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Shenna Bellows (D)	$1,073,785.64	$515,196.94	$558,588.70
Jason Cherry (D)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Troy Jackson (D)	$643,571.79	$388,441.49	$255,130.30
Angus King III (D)	$908,308.62	$569,200.50	$339,108.12
Kenneth Forrest Pinet (D)	$775.00	$775.00	$0.00
Hannah Pingree (D)	$1,389,695.59	$649,058.73	$740,636.86
Nirav Shah (D)	$509,767.26	$170,422.69	$339,344.57
Source: Maine Ethics Commission

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Shenna Bellows	Troy Jackson	Angus King III	Hannah Pingree	Nirav Shah	Other	Undecided
Impact Research (D)	March 19–23, 2026	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	17%	18%	9%	16%	31%	–	6%
Pan Atlantic Research	February 13 – March 2, 2026	367 (LV)	–	16%	10%	24%	18%	24%	10%	–
University of New Hampshire	February 12–16, 2026	462 (LV)	± 4.5%	19%	16%	5%	10%	25%	1%	23%
Hart Research (D)	January 15–19, 2026	502 (LV)	± 4.5%	11%	9%	13%	13%	35%	–	18%
Pan Atlantic Research	November 29 – December 7, 2025	318 (LV)	± 6.1%	16%	8%	19%	18%	24%	–	15%
Pan Atlantic Research	May 12–26, 2025	325 (LV)	± 6.1%	24%	13%	33%	20%	–	–	10%

Republican primary

Declared

• Jonathan Bush, healthcare executive and nephew of former president George H.W. Bush • Robert Charles, lawyer and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State • David Jones, real estate executive and independent candidate for governor in (/wiki/2006Mainegubernatorialelection) • James Libby, state senator and candidate for governor in (/wiki/2002Mainegubernatorialelection) • Garrett Mason, former majority leader of the Maine Senate and candidate for governor in (/wiki/2018Mainegubernatorialelection) • Owen McCarthy, University of Maine System trustee • Ben Midgley, former CEO of Crunch Fitness • Robert Wessels, former Paris selectman

Failed to qualify

• Ken Capron, retired accountant • David J. Foster • Randy Lee Wilcox

Declined

• Rick Bennett, state senator, former President of the Maine Senate, and candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2012UnitedStatesSenateelectioninMaine) (running as an Independent) • Laurel Libby, state representative from the 90th district (2022–present) and the 64th district (2020–2022) • Shawn Moody, entrepreneur, nominee for governor in (/wiki/2018Mainegubernatorialelection), independent candidate for governor in (/wiki/2010Mainegubernatorialelection) (initially formed exploratory committee) • Ray Richardson, political analyst and radio host

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of January 15, 2026
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Jonathan Bush (R)	$964,451.00	$717,809.34	$623,141.66
Kenneth Capron (R)	$3,511.30	$3,316.87	$194.43
David J. Foster (R)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Robert Charles (R)	$543,972.66	$316,378.85	$307,593.81
David Jones (R)	$439,776.84	$212,470.03	$339,108.12
James Libby (R)	$14,745.00	$14,355.85	$389.15
Owen McCarthy (R)	$336,472.00	$176,120.07	$215,351.93
Ben Midgley (R)	$251,328.00	$235,991.50	$265,336.50
Robert Wessels (R)	$41,535.90	$24,708.94	$16,826.96
Source: Maine Ethics Commission

Polling

<table><thead><tr><th>Poll source</th><th>Date(s) administered</th><th>Sample size</th><th>Margin of error</th><th>Jonathan Bush</th><th>Robert Charles</th><th>David Jones</th><th>James Libby</th><th>Garrett Mason</th><th>Owen McCarthy</th><th>Ben Midgley</th><th>Robert Wessels</th><th>Other</th><th>Undecided</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Pan Atlantic Research</td><td>February 13 – March 2, 2026</td><td>298 (LV)</td><td>–</td><td>4%</td><td>26%</td><td>6%</td><td>8%</td><td>11%</td><td>7%</td><td>4%</td><td>–</td><td>–</td><td>34%</td></tr><tr><td>University of New Hampshire</td><td>February 12–16, 2026</td><td>404 (LV)</td><td>± 4.9%</td><td>5%</td><td>28%</td><td>7%</td><td>2%</td><td>12%</td><td>1%</td><td>6%</td><td>4%</td><td>3%</td><td>31%</td></tr><tr><td>Pan Atlantic Research</td><td>November 29 – December 7, 2025</td><td>312 (LV)</td><td>± 6.1%</td><td>5%</td><td>16%</td><td>6%</td><td>3%</td><td>–</td><td>2%</td><td>–</td><td>–</td><td>–</td><td>68%</td></tr><tr><td>McLaughlin & Associates (R)</td><td>August 23–25, 2025</td><td>300 (LV)</td><td>± 4.0%</td><td>4%</td><td>28%</td><td>2%</td><td>1%</td><td>1%</td><td>2%</td><td>0.3%</td><td>3%</td><td>23%</td><td>34%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Independents

Declared

• Rick Bennett, state senator (1996–2004, 2020–present), Republican nominee for ME-2 in (/wiki/1994UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselections#Maine) and candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2012UnitedStatesSenateelectioninMaine) • Ed Crockett, state representative (2018–present) • John Glowa, retired environmental specialist • Derek Levasseur, former police officer and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2020UnitedStatesSenateelectioninMaine)

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of January 15, 2026
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Richard Bennett (I)	$528,570.00	$295,446.09	$233,123.91
Ed Crockett (I)	$9,116.98	$1,250.85	$7,866.13
John Glowa (I)	$118.00	$0.00	$118.00
Alexander Murchison (I)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Source: Maine Ethics Commission

General election

Predictions

<table><thead><tr><th>Source</th><th>Ranking</th><th>As of</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>The Cook Political Report</td><td>Likely D</td><td>September 11, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>Inside Elections</td><td>Likely D</td><td>August 28, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>Sabato's Crystal Ball</td><td>Lean D</td><td>September 4, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>Race to the WH</td><td>Tilt D</td><td>January 30, 2026</td></tr></tbody></table>