Democrat Hannah Pingree, Republican Bobby Charles and independent Rick Bennett meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the first debate of their race, hosted by News Center Maine and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce in Portland.
Pingree, a former Maine House speaker, is the favorite. Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ election results partner, gives her an 87% chance of winning.
She has run on a progressive platform, including major spending on housing and a public health care option. Charles won the Republican primary promising to cut billions from the state budget and to phase out the income tax. Bennett has detailed policy proposals but has not broken through in the polls.
The winner will inherit a $1 billion budget gap from Gov. Janet Mills. Each of the candidates has expensive ideas that would be hard to enact in that environment, even if Pingree and her fellow Democrats hold control of Augusta.
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