Hannah Pingree, the former director of Gov. Janet Mills’ policy office and former Maine House speaker, is running for Maine governor. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

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Anne Carney represents District 29 (South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and part of Scarborough) in the Maine Senate. She is the Senate chair of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Many of the bills that come before my committee would shock most Mainers. Attacks on reproductive rights. Attempts to erase LGBTQ families. I see what’s coming. That’s why this election matters so much to me.

As Senate chair of the Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, I’ve presided over some of the most contentious debates in recent memory. I’ve watched lawmakers buckle under pressure, and I’ve watched others hold the line. That experience has given me a clear eye for leadership.

I see that Hannah Pingree is the real thing.

She is my first choice for governor, and I hope she’ll be yours on June 9.

I’ve followed Hannah’s career for nearly two decades and worked alongside her in the Maine Senate on clean air and water, affordable health care, and climate action. What I’ve learned is that Hannah doesn’t just care about hard problems, she solves them.

In 2008, as a young legislator, she took on the chemical industry and won. Her Kid-Safe Products Act was one of the first laws in the nation to protect children from hazardous chemicals in baby food containers, toys, and other children’s products. The industry had money and lobbyists. Hannah had the facts and the spine to see it through.

A decade later, she led more than 200 leaders, experts, and community advocates to build “Maine Won’t Wait,” our state’s landmark climate plan. She guided that work to consensus in December 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic and a recession. When the 2024 storms devastated infrastructure in my district and across Maine, the frameworks Hannah helped build were part of how we recovered. Good policy saves real people. Hannah knows that.

She also launched Maine’s Office of New Americans in January 2025, connecting immigrants to jobs and educational opportunities and strengthening our economy. In my community, new Mainers are filling essential roles in health care and industry because Hannah built something that works.

This interim legislative session, I will chair the legislative working group charged with developing recommendations to extend federal beneficial laws to the Wabanaki Nations. It is among the most important work I will do as a senator. Hannah’s unequivocal support for recognizing the inherent sovereignty of the Wabanaki Nations gives me confidence that we can send decisive legislation to the governor’s desk in 2027. I want Hannah Pingree to be the governor who signs it.

Every session, my committee receives bills designed to strip away Mainers’ reproductive rights. Many are cruel. Many are demeaning. Under the current federal climate, I expect more of the same. Hannah’s lifelong, consistent, and unflinching commitment to reproductive freedom gives me confidence that we can protect Maine women. That is not a small thing. It may be the most important thing.

These are not campaign promises. They are a record, and a preview.

I believe Maine needs a governor who has proven she can lead through crisis, forge unlikely coalitions, and deliver lasting results. Hannah Pingree has done all of that.

On June 9, please make Hannah Pingree your number one choice for governor. She has earned it. And Maine needs her now.

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