The 2026 Maine gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills is ineligible to seek re-election to a third consecutive term. Although Maine has adopted ranked-choice voting, it is only used for primary and federal general elections. Therefore, the primary was conducted with ranked-choice voting, and the general election will be conducted with the traditional plurality voting system. Primary elections were held on June 9, 2026.
Democrat Hannah Pingree and Republican Bobby Charles won their respective primaries, and will be joined on the ballot by independent Rick Bennett.
Background Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills was re-elected with 55.69% of the vote in 2022 over Republican former governor Paul LePage. She is term-limited and not eligible to run again.
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. Both houses of the Maine Legislature were controlled by the Maine Democratic Party in the prior session. A Republican has not received 50% or more of the vote in a gubernatorial election since 1962, when incumbent Republican John H. Reed received 50.08% of the vote.
Democratic primary Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, and Hannah Pingree announced an "alliance" on May 22, 2026, in which they would rank each other ahead of their opponents Angus King III and Nirav Shah; Shah was leading in most public polls. Shah received the most first-preference votes, with 26.8%, followed by Pingree with 23.3%, Jackson with 21.0%, Bellows with 20.7%, and King with 8.2%. As a result of finishing last, King was eliminated and his voters' second preferences were redistributed to the remaining four candidates. Pingree was ultimately nominated after four rounds of ranked-choice tabulation, defeating Shah in the final round by a 56%–44% margin.
Following his loss in the gubernatorial primary, Troy Jackson became the Democratic nominee in the 2026 United States Senate election after former nominee Graham Platner withdrew from the race.
Candidates Nominee Hannah Pingree, former director of the Maine Governor's Office of Policy Innovation, former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives (2008–2010) from the 36th district (2002–2010), and daughter of U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree
Eliminated in primary Shenna Bellows, Maine Secretary of State (2021–present) and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2014 Troy Jackson, former President of the Maine Senate (2018–2024) and candidate for Maine's 2nd congressional district in 2014 Angus King III, energy executive and son of U.S. Senator and former governor Angus King 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)
Failed to qualify Kenneth Pinet, retired hotel worker
Withdrawn Jason Cherry, attorney and independent candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024 (ran for State House)
Declined Joe Baldacci, state senator (2020–present) and brother of former governor John Baldacci (ran 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
Endorsements
Fundraising Italics indicates a withdrawn or disqualified candidate Campaign finance reports as of May 28, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handShenna Bellows (D)$1,788,987.24$1,447,114.88$367,068.15Jason Cherry (D)$0.00$0.00$0.00Troy Jackson (D)$981,248.74$747,698.62$255,494.07Angus King III (D)$1,921,242.73$1,692,317.07$228,925.66Kenneth Forrest Pinet (D)$775.00$775.00$0.00Hannah Pingree (D)$2,123,468.39$1,030,453.75$420,028.18Nirav Shah (D)$1,241,045.91$944,715.86$288,331.47Source: Maine Ethics Commission
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin Round ShennaBellows TroyJackson AngusKing III HannahPingree NiravShah Other UndecidedSurveyUSA May 28 – June 3, 2026 484 ± 5.4% Round 1 11% 20% 14% 19% 25% – 11% Round 2 –N/A – – Round 3 – 31% – 33% 36% – – Round 4 – – – 52%48% – –University of New HampshireMay 21–25, 2026595 (LV)± 4.0%–13%28%7%12%28%1%11%Impact ResearchMay 19–21, 2026500 (LV)± 4.4%–15%24%9%16%32%–4%Pan Atlantic ResearchMay 8–18, 2026402 (LV)––10%12%24%9%29%–16%GQR (D)May 6–9, 2026500 (LV)––18%15%12%20%32%–3%Schoen Cooperman Research (D)April 30 – May 4, 2026522 (LV)––16%13%21%15%28%–7%Impact Research (D)March 19–23, 2026500 (LV)± 4.4%–17%18%9%16%31%–6%Pan Atlantic ResearchFebruary 13 – March 2, 2026367 (LV)––16%10%24%18%24%10%–University of New HampshireFebruary 12–16, 2026462 (LV)± 4.5%–19%16%5%10%25%1%23% Hart Research (D)January 15–19, 2026502 (LV)± 4.5%–11%9%13%13% 35%–18% Pan Atlantic ResearchNovember 29 – December 7, 2025318 (LV)± 6.1%–16%8%19%18% 24%–15%GQR (D)October 2025–––24%14%15%16%16%–16% Pan Atlantic ResearchMay 12–26, 2025325 (LV)± 6.1%–24%13%33%20%––10%
Debates + 2026 Maine gubernatorial election Democratic primary debates Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Shenna Bellows Troy Jackson Angus King III Hannah Pingree Nirav Shah1 April 30, 2026 WMTW-TVWABI-TVWAGM-TV Terry Stackhouse YouTube 2 May 5, 2026 WGME-TVBangor Daily News Gregg LagerquistMike Shepherd YouTube 3 May 14, 2026 WCSH-TV Rob CaldwellPhil Hirschkorn YouTube
Results
The Maine gubernatorial election uses instant-runoff voting as its algorithm: in each round, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes among the remaining candidates is eliminated, and each ballot which was formerly voting for that candidate is transferred to its new first preference. This necessarily results in a number of rounds equal to 1 less than the number of candidates.
+Democratic primary resultsPartyCandidateRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Votes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%DemocraticHannah Pingree50,55223.3+ 4,80855,36026.0+ 20,31175,67136.3+ 36,079111,75056.2DemocraticNirav Shah58,60626.8 + 4,25562,86029.5 + 9,82172,68134.8 + 14,26986,95043.8DemocraticTroy Jackson45,95921.1 + 1,63847,59722.3 + 12,41360,01028.8 - 60,010EliminatedDemocraticShenna Bellows44,77020.6 + 2,27947,04922.1 - 47,049EliminatedDemocraticAngus King III17,8608.3 - 17,860Eliminated Continuing ballots217,747100.0212,84897.8208,54295.7198,70091.1 Exhausted ballots – +4,8814,8812.2 + 4,504 9,3854.3 + 9,66219,0478.9 Total votes217,747100.0217,747100.0217,747100.0217,747100.0
Republican primary All Republican candidates said that they opposed ranked choice voting. Robert Charles was particularly critical of ranked choice voting and encouraged Republican primary voters to rank him across the ballot and not rank other candidates. Charles criticized what he called "back room deals" among other candidates to encourage their supporters to rank another candidate second, claiming other candidates could not be trusted to work to repeal ranked choice voting while encouraging its use. The candidates who endorsed a second choice were Robert Wessels, who endorsed Jonathan Bush as his second choice, Ben Midgley, who endorsed David Jones as his second choice, and David Jones, who endorsed Midgley as his second choice.
Charles would win 37.7% of the vote, with Midgley and Bush finishing with 20.1% and 19.8% respectively, and every other candidate some distance behind them. State senator James Libby, who had suspended his campaign in April but did not formally withdrawn from the race, finished in last. After seven rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulation, Charles was declared the winner.
Candidates Nominee Bobby Charles, lawyer and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State (2003–2005)
Eliminated in primary Jonathan Bush, healthcare executive and nephew of former president George H. W. Bush Garrett Mason, former majority leader of the Maine Senate and candidate for governor in 2018 Ben Midgley, former CEO of Crunch Fitness David Jones, real estate executive and independent candidate for governor in 2006 Owen McCarthy, University of Maine System trustee Robert Wessels, former Paris selectman
Failed to qualify Ken Capron, retired accountant David J. Foster Randy Lee Wilcox
Withdrawn James Libby, state senator and candidate for governor in 2002 (endorsed Bush; remained on ballot) Steven Sheppard, rapper
Declined Rick Bennett, state senator, former President of the Maine Senate, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012 (running as an Independent) Laurel Libby, state representative from the 90th district (2022–present) and the 64th district (2020–2022) Shawn Moody, businessperson, nominee for governor in 2018, independent candidate for governor in 2010 (initially formed exploratory committee) Ray Richardson, political analyst and radio host
Endorsements
Fundraising Italics indicates a withdrawn or disqualified candidate Campaign finance reports as of May 28, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handJonathan Bush (R)$1,709,651.00$2,439,491.69$131,659.31Kenneth Capron (R)$3,511.30$3,316.87$194.43David J. Foster (R)$0.00$0.00$0.00Bobby Charles (R)$1,020,570.20$819,932.18$277,293.30 David Jones (R)$529,512.02$401,943.87$123,617.44James Libby (R)$17,025.00$17,010.39$98.76Owen McCarthy (R)$386,142.23$405,804.00$115,275.00Ben Midgley (R)$322,263.00$626,642.18$445,620.82Robert Wessels (R)$61,162.47$41,868.01$19,162.91Source: Maine Ethics Commission
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin JonathanBush RobertCharles DavidJones JamesLibby GarrettMason OwenMcCarthy BenMidgley RobertWessels Other UndecidedSurveyUSAMay 28 – June 3, 2026466 (LV)± 5.7%17%34%2%0%10%7%11%2%–18%University of New HampshireMay 21–25, 2026465 (LV)± 6.3%18%37%7%–9%2%11%6%0%9%Pan Atlantic ResearchMay 8–18, 2026287 (LV)–20%36%20%–13%4%2%1%–21%McLaughlin & Associates (R)April 28 – April 30, 2026300 (LV)± 5.7%11%47%2%–11%2%10%2%–16% April 9, 2026 Libby withdrawsPan Atlantic ResearchFebruary 13 – March 2, 2026298 (LV)–4%26%6%8%11%7%4%––34%University of New HampshireFebruary 12–16, 2026404 (LV)± 4.9%5%28%7%2%12%1%6%4%3%31% Pan Atlantic ResearchNovember 29 – December 7, 2025312 (LV)± 6.1%5% 16%6%3%–2%–––68% McLaughlin & Associates (R)August 23–25, 2025300 (LV)± 4.0%4% 28%2%1%1%2%0.3%3%23%34%
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize MarginRickBennettJonathanBushRobertCharlesLaurelLibbyGarrettMasonShawnMoodyBrucePoliquinTreyStewartPan Atlantic ResearchMay 12–26, 2025293 (LV)± 8.4%14%9%14%27%10%21%23%10%
Debates + 2026 Maine gubernatorial election Republican primary debates Date Host Moderator Link Republican Republican Republican Republican Republican Republican RepublicanKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Jonathan Bush Robert Charles David Jones Garrett Mason Ben Midgley Owen McCarthy Robert Wessels1 May 5, 2026 WMTW-TV Jon Chrisos YouTube 2 May 7, 2026 Bangor Daily NewsWGME-TV Gregg LagerquistMike Shepherd YouTube 2 May 14, 2026 WCSH-TV Rob CaldwellPhil Hirschkorn YouTube
Convention vote On April 25, 2026, the Maine Republican Party announced the results of a straw poll by delegates to the Maine Republican Convention. Robert Charles was declared the winner. Unlike the primary, the straw poll was conducted without ranked-choice voting, and was non-binding.
Results
Results