2026 Maine gubernatorial election


The 2026 Maine gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the 76th governor of Maine. Incumbent [Maine Maine Democratic Party|Democratic Party|Democratic] governor Janet Mills is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term. This election will coincide with a U.S. Senate election, U.S. House [2026 United States House of Representatives 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Maine|elections in Maine|elections] for Maine's two congressional districts, and various other state, county, and local elections. Although Maine has adopted ranked-choice voting, it is only used for primary and federal general elections. Therefore, the primary will be conducted with ranked-choice voting, and the general election will be conducted with the traditional plurality voting system. The primary elections will be held on June 9, 2026.

Background

Incumbent Democratic governor Janet Mills was re-elected with 55.69% of the vote in 2022 over Republican former governor Paul LePage. Maine has not elected consecutive governors from the same party since Republican Burton M. Cross succeeded Republican Frederick G. Payne after 1952. Conversely, Mills's 2022 re-election, held under Democratic president Joe Biden, was the first time Mainers had elected a governor from the same party as the president since Republican John R. McKernan Jr. was re-elected under Republican president George H. W. Bush in 1990.
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, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1992. In 2024, the state voted for Kamala Harris by seven points. Both houses of the Maine Legislature are controlled by the Maine Democratic Party, and Maine's two congressional districts are held by Democrats. A Republican has not received a majority of the vote in a gubernatorial election since 1962, when incumbent Republican John H. Reed received 50.08% of the vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

  • Steven Sheppard, rapper

Declined

Polling

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
Rick
Bennett		Jonathan
Bush		Bobby
Charles		Laurel
Libby		Garrett
Mason		Shawn
Moody		Bruce
Poliquin		Trey
Stewart
Pan Atlantic ResearchMay 12 – May 26, 2025293 ± 8.4%14%9%14%27%10%21%23%10%

Independents

Declared

  • Rick Bennett, state senator, former President of the Maine Senate, Republican nominee for in 1994 and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012
  • Ed Crockett, state representative
  • John Glowa, retired environmental specialist
  • Derek Levasseur, former police officer and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020

Filed paperwork