The famous names and familiar faces considering a run for Maine governor
By Billy Kobin and Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff
A mix of famous names, top officeholders and rising stars are among those quietly jockeying to be Maine’s next governor ahead of a refresh coming to the Maine State House in 2026.
Gov. Janet Mills will leave the Blaine House after the next election. By that time, Democrats will have had full control of state politics for her eight years in office. Yet Republicans will be buoyed by the fact that Maine has not consecutively elected governors of the same party since 1959.
These political resets offer some of the most interesting debates about the state’s future. Mills had to win a seven-way Democratic primary in 2018. Her predecessor, Paul LePage, began as a dark horse before defeating six other Republicans and narrowly winning the seat in 2010.
At this time, candidates are usually in the planning phase. But gossip tends to center now on the political figures who are most serious. Eight years ago, a Bangor Daily News list identified most of the candidates who would eventually run. Campaigning will begin in earnest next year.
We talked to sources and then reached out to more than a dozen people whose names have been mentioned as potential candidates. They include U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District, a member of the Bush political family, former candidates for high office and former state officials.
Here’s an early look at how the fields are shaping up on both sides.
Democrats
Two people loom large over the potential Democratic field: Golden and Hannah Pingree, a former Maine House speaker who now directs Mills’ policy office and is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine’s 1st District.
Golden has held on to his conservative-leaning district since 2018, splitting it twice with President-elect Donald Trump. Pingree has served quietly in a lieutenant governor-like role since Mills took over. Her family connections and ties with environmental organizations could allow her to enter a Democratic primary late and do well.
Yet Golden has angered ardent Democrats with swing votes against President Joe Biden and his summer prediction that Trump would win back the White House. Pingree has not been elected to office since 2008, and some have said behind the scenes that the liberal connotation with her last name could make it difficult for her to win statewide.
In a recent interview, Golden demurred on his plans and dismissed speculation he may run for governor as an independent. After his wife recently responded with a heart emoji to a Facebook post from a friend that called Golden the “best choice” for governor, a spokesperson texted a reporter that “tea leaves are just leaves.” Pingree did not respond to requests for comment.
Two other top Democrats are acting more explicitly like candidates. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and outgoing Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, were frequent and sometimes overlapping guests at summer events for progressive groups.
Bellows, who ran against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2014, received national attention when she initially disqualified Trump from this year’s Republican primary ballot before that decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. She would likely be a polarizing gubernatorial nominee.
In a text message, Bellows said she was honored that people are thinking about her as a candidate but that she was “excited, energized and committed” to her official duties.
Jackson has a background in logging that has factored into his persistent advocacy for labor unions who have leaned Democratic but also drifted to the right in recent years. He did not respond to phone calls, texts and emails seeking comment.
There are other potential candidates. Former Portland City Councilor Spencer Thibodeau, who works in Biden’s Energy Department, said he will have “more to say in the new year” about his plans. Incoming House Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford said he is focused on that role.
A big-name Democrat who flirted with a 2018 run, Adam Lee, the chairman of Lee Auto Malls, ruled out a run. He made that decision after recently broaching the idea of running with his wife.
“Are you nuts?” he recalled her saying.
Republicans
The Republican field has less shape than the Democratic one. That’s in part due to their relative lack of success in state politics over the past six years. It’s also because there is no dominant figure on the stage like LePage, whose inner circle coalesced behind Shawn Moody in 2018 and tamped down the four-way primary to succeed the divisive governor.
But there is a cast of potential candidates from unconventional names to those that have run before. Perhaps the most interesting one is Jonathan S. Bush, the nephew and cousin of former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, respectively. He has been exploring a potential run by meeting with political and policy figures here over the last year.
Bush has baggage. He was ousted in 2018 from athenahealth, the company he founded, after an investor takeover intersected with reports that he confessed to hitting his ex-wife more than a decade earlier. He is also a heavy Trump critic who supported Nikki Haley in the 2024 primaries. But he said business doesn’t have “the newness” that public service would.
“If I could someday be governor of Maine, I’d be thrilled beyond words,” he said. “But I have no idea what the drips between the lip and the cup will be between now and 2026.”
Former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, who was the runner-up to Moody and is now a lobbyist, is a more conventional candidate considering a run. He is a staunch social conservative who has consulted for Republican megadonor Thomas Klingenstein, a Trump ally. Yet he also has decent working relationships with Democrats in the State House.
“Two years is a long time, and a lot can happen,” Mason said. “So it’s definitely on the table. I’m not sure I’m ready to sit down yet, though.”
Others considering runs are the two Republicans who ran in the 2002 gubernatorial primary: Peter Cianchette, who was the ambassador to Costa Rica under President George W. Bush and now works for Cianbro, the Cianchette family’s construction firm, and Sen. James Libby, R-Standish. Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn, a prolific organizer who helps to lead The Dinner Table, a political committee with its own national connections, is also mulling a bid.
Two prominent Republicans — former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin and state Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford — demurred on their plans. Poliquin popped up during this past cycle as a media surrogate for Trump, while Bennett is a centrist lawmaker who has been active in criticizing Maine’s utilities and spearheading a recently passed cap on certain political contributions.
Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn, a prolific organizer who helps to lead The Dinner Table, a political committee with its own national connections, is also mulling a bid. Robert B. Charles, a Wayne native who was an assistant secretary of state in charge of drug enforcement and often appears on Fox News, has been making the rounds to party events while exploring a run.
Conservative radio host Ray Richardson has said on the air that he may run, but he ruled out running on Saturday, saying that he wants to remain in radio.