A crowded field of Democratic candidates are vying to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in Maine.
Dr. Nirav Shah, Maine’s former top public health official, is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in recent polls. The other Democratic candidates running in the primary, which will be held with ranked-choice voting, include Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; former Senate President Troy Jackson; Hannah Pingree, the former Maine state House speaker, former director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and daughter of Rep. Chellie Pingree; and Angus King III, an energy executive and son of U.S. Sen. Angus King.
Jonathan Bush, a health care entrepreneur who is the nephew of former President George H.W. Bush and cousin of former President George W. Bush, officially launched his campaign for governor as a Republican on October 8. He joins a field of candidates that includes state Sen. James Libby, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles, real estate executive David Jones and University of Maine trustee Owen McCarthy.
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Maine is solidly Democratic at the presidential level, and Democrats are favored to win the governor’s race in 2026.
Governors and state legislatures have become increasingly important and visible as the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress have delegated policymaking on abortion, child care, LGBTQ+ rights and more to the states.
Mills and President Donald Trump notably clashed over the issue of transgender athletes in sports, which became a political flashpoint in the state earlier this year.
Democrats have also sounded the alarm about the impacts of Republicans’ party-line tax and spending cut legislation on Maine, a largely rural state where many residents rely on Medicaid, food assistance and energy assistance programs subject to steep cuts under the bill.
In all, 36 governorships are up in 2026. Five Democratic-led states won by Trump in 2024 (Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) are holding elections for governor in 2026, while two Republican governors in states won by former Vice President Kamala Harris (New Hampshire and Vermont) are up for reelection.
