Maine Democrats and Republicans Advance to November Governor and House Races

Democrat Hannah Pingree and Republican Bobby Charles will compete in November to become Maine’s next governor after both won their party primaries on Friday. The June 9 primary contests advanced to ranked choice voting because no candidate in either party received more than 50 percent of the vote. The Democratic primary for governor was especially close among the top four candidates.

Open Governor’s Race Democratic Gov.

Janet Mills, who has served since 2018, is term-limited and did not seek re-election. Five Democratic candidates and seven Republican candidates campaigned in the June 9 primary. Democratic voters selected between Pingree, the former speaker of the Maine House of Representatives; Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson; energy executive Angus King III; and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah.

Republicans chose between Charles, the former U.S. assistant secretary of state; healthcare executive Jonathan Bush; former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason; former Paris, Maine, selectman Robert Wessels; and businessmen Owen McCarthy, David Jones and Ben Midgley.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Matt Dunlap won the nomination after a ranked choice runoff. Dunlap will face former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, in November. The seat is open because Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who has held it since 2018, is stepping down.

LePage was unopposed in the Republican primary. The 2nd District covers much of Maine’s rural territory and logging country and some of its key fishing ports. Voters in the district have supported President Donald Trump in three consecutive presidential elections.