Democrat Hannah Pingree and MAGA ally Bobby Charles will face off for Maine governor

Former Maine state House Speaker Hannah Pingree, a Democrat, and MAGA conservative Bobby Charles will face off in what’s expected to be a competitive general election for Maine governor.

Both emerged from the state’s ranked choice voting process early Friday morning, with Pingree — the daughter of Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) — leapfrogging front-runner and former public health official Nirav Shah in the Democratic runoff.

An independent candidate, Rick Bennett, has also qualified to be on the ballot in the race to succeed current Gov. Janet Mills. Bennett, a state senator and the former Maine GOP chair, left the party last summer ahead of launching his gubernatorial run. The general election will not use ranked choice voting.

Republicans are hoping they can take back the Blaine House after eight years of Mills in power, arguing that voters’ frustrations over energy prices and property taxes will power Charles to victory.

Charles, who was the clear front-runner in the GOP primary, worked in the State Department during George W. Bush’s administration before founding a Washington-based consulting firm. He ran a prolific social media campaign, frequently lobbing barbs at Democratic contenders via cartoons and artificial intelligence-generated images. He prevailed in a seven-person Republican field despite vastly more money being spent on behalf of a few other candidates.

His campaign promises included eliminating Maine’s income tax and cutting the state’s roughly $7 billion budget by $4 billion.

Pingree served in the state House more than a decade ago, rising to House speaker from 2008 to 2010. She joined Mills’ administration as the director of the Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, making her one of the Democratic governor’s most trusted advisers.

Pingree was endorsed by Mills in the gubernatorial race and was the third-choice pick of Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner. Her ascendancy would reflect the most continuity of Mills’ tenure, although Pingree indicated that she would differ from the governor’s path on certain decisions related to labor and tribal sovereignty — two issues where Mills has clashed with progressives.