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To put the focus on the topics and concerns that matter most to you, the BDN opinion section asked subscribers for their questions for the candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House. In coming days, we’ll share their answers. We start today with the three candidates for governor.
What are the first 3 things you would do if you are elected?
Bobby Charles, Republican
Lower electric bills, cut waste, cut taxes.
Hannah Pingree, Democrat
First, I’d build a great team. That’s how I’ve led throughout my career: surround yourself with smart, talented, hardworking people and trust them to deliver. Good government starts with good people.
Then I’d get to work on a balanced budget focused on our most urgent needs: lowering costs, building more housing, strengthening health care and education, and providing immediate relief, including heating help this winter.
I’d move aggressively to build more homes by cutting barriers to construction and investing in housing Mainers can afford. On health care, I’d begin work on a public option, protect rural hospitals, and lower prescription drug costs. And I’d strengthen public education from early childhood through higher education, investing in proven programs like the science of reading and evidence-based math.
I’d work with legislators from both parties. But we also have to be clear-eyed: the Trump Administration will make the next governor’s job harder, with federal cuts that threaten Maine’s budget, economy, health care system, and people’s rights. On day one, I’ll use the full authority of the governor’s office to protect Mainers’ rights and freedoms, push back against harmful federal overreach, and address emerging challenges, from threats to reproductive and civil rights to the risks posed by AI.
And I’d fulfill a campaign promise: working with the Wabanaki Nations to pass legislation in my first 100 days advancing full tribal sovereignty and ensuring the Wabanaki have the same rights as other federally recognized tribes.
This moment demands a governor who can do many things at once, and deliver.
Rick Bennett, independent
My first three actions all serve one goal: Making Maine affordable again.
First, cut the costs crushing Mainers. I will apply the Property Tax Fairness Credit, up to $1,500 for most households and $2,000 for Mainers 65 and older, directly to property tax bills, so relief arrives when the bill arrives, not months later at refund time. I will reduce down payments for first-time home buyers, reduce utility profits to lower delivery costs, and make child care affordable by unifying Maine’s birth to five systems under one roof.
Second, restore accountability in state government. I will create an Office of Inspector General reporting to the governor, publish the budget in plain language online so any Mainer can follow it, subject every agency program to a biennial review that justifies its cost and results, and require the state to pay its own bills, including hospital and nonprofit provider claims, within 30 days.
Third, grow Maine’s economy. I will give job seekers and employers one “front door” instead of a maze of agencies, negotiate special energy rate contracts for manufacturers tied to job commitments, and expand Career and Technical Education and paid apprenticeships so young Mainers can build a career and a life here.
Mainers are doing everything right and still falling behind. Government’s job is to make the math work again.
Health care costs are rising, yet many Maine hospitals are struggling to stay open. What specifically would you do to lower health care costs in Maine? To increase access to care? How would you help Maine health care facilities improve their financial stability?
Pingree
Health care costs are out of control, and many Maine people can’t get the care they need. Rural hospitals are under enormous financial pressure, services are disappearing, and families are waiting longer, traveling farther, and paying more. Federal cuts to Medicaid and other health care funding will make those pressures worse.
Congress should pass universal health care, but Maine families can’t wait. As governor, I’ll act.
First, I’ll create a public health insurance option: a state-backed plan that gives individuals and small businesses another affordable choice. It won’t replace anyone’s current coverage. It will compete with private insurers, put patients before profits, and be accountable to Maine people — not corporate shareholders.
I’ll also attack the underlying costs driving premiums and medical bills. I’ll use Maine’s purchasing power to lower prescription drug costs, limit restrictive prior authorizations, strengthen oversight of excessive price increases, demand greater transparency from insurers and health systems, and push back against corporate consolidation that raises costs without improving care.
And we have to protect access, especially in rural Maine. I’ll work to stabilize rural hospitals while expanding primary care, home care, maternity, reproductive, mental health, and substance-use care closer to home. That means investing in our health care workforce, investing in community-based care, and creating a systems approach to ensure that everything from rural hospitals to nursing homes are accessible for Mainers when they need it most, regardless of what county you live in.
Maine shouldn’t accept a system where families can’t afford care and the providers they depend on can’t afford to stay open. My plan tackles both affordability and access, building a health care system strong enough to serve every community.
Bennett
Yes, health care costs keep rising while rural hospitals strain to keep their doors open, and we have to be honest about why. Right now we are subsidizing a failed system in the least efficient way possible.
First, pay providers fairly and on time. Maine hospitals and nonprofit providers wait months for the state to pay legitimate claims, and some borrow thousands in interest just to keep operating. As governor, I will require clean claims to be paid within 30 days, set MaineCare rates that reflect the actual cost of care, and stop shifting costs onto hospitals and local property taxpayers.
Second, invest in prevention first. States that invested in coordinated primary and behavioral health care saw hospital and emergency spending fall dramatically. That means telehealth so geography is not a barrier, mobile crisis teams, and supportive housing so people stop cycling through emergency rooms and jails.
Third, protect financial stability against what is coming from Washington. The federal reconciliation law will change how nearly 400,000 Mainers access coverage and could cost Maine 4,300 jobs and $749 million in economic activity. I will defend MaineCare, expand telehealth, and fight to keep rural hospitals and clinics open.
Fourth, launch a Medical Debt Relief Program to reduce crushing debt, protect family finances, and help Mainers get care.
Finally, I commit Maine to a path to universal care, because coverage that is not affordable is not coverage.
Charles
By simply living up to our fiscal responsibilities.
Affordability is my number one concern, and it’s the number one concern of most Mainers. That includes health care.
Gov. Janet Mills’ first act in office was to expand MaineCare to able-bodied, childless adults without a plan to pay for it. Working, taxpaying Mainers have been footing the bill ever since.
Mills and Hannah Pingree, her top policy advisor, mismanaged Maine’s health care system. Mostly on their watch, Maine lost 12 birthing units, 15 nursing homes, 24 assisted living facilities and 75 home care agencies. Providers were paid late and reimbursed at rates that don’t cover the cost of care.
This must be reversed. As governor, I will restore proper management to MaineCare, pay providers on time and at fair rates, and make sure Mainers have high-quality health care that is accessible and affordable.
Maine has one of the highest tax burdens in the country. What would you do to lower taxes? To increase incomes? Do you believe that lowering taxes will draw businesses to Maine? What government programs, if any, would you cut to lower state spending to reduce taxes? Will you push for government and school consolidation to lower property taxes?
Bennett
Maine’s tax burden is high because state spending grows faster than paychecks, and the state keeps shifting its own costs onto property tax bills. The state budget grew 77% over the past decade, from $8.2 billion to $14.5 billion, more than twice the rate of inflation, while most of it renews on autopilot with limited scrutiny.
I will lower taxes by lowering the cost of government and going after what drives property taxes up. Every program must justify its cost and results each biennium; every tax expenditure must show measurable public benefit; no more contracts without competitive bidding; and an Inspector General to find waste and corruption.
On property taxes, I will apply the Property Tax Fairness Credit directly to tax bills, expand the homestead exemption frozen since 2020, move toward income sensitive property tax caps like Vermont’s so no one is taxed out of their home, and pay the state’s share: full revenue sharing and the 55% school funding commitment, instead of unfunded mandates. I support regionalizing services like EMS, dispatch, and public works when towns choose to partner, with incentives, not consolidation forced from Augusta.
Lower taxes alone will not draw businesses; lower costs will. Energy, housing, health care, and child care, along with a skilled workforce, decide where employers go. That is how incomes rise.
Charles
I will launch a full-scale audit of state government on day one to root out the waste, fraud and abuse that has become so common in Augusta. That starts with the large number of reckless no-bid, sole-source contracts that this administration’s own state auditor has flagged. It includes the $45 million in improper spending that federal auditors found in just one Medicaid program. This audit will be run by career, civil service bean counters, not political operatives.
State government can and must lower the tax burden, starting with property taxes. As governor, I will raise the Homestead Exemption to $100,000. I will raise the state’s reimbursement to towns to 100%, so that relief doesn’t get shifted onto other local taxpayers. And I will roll back the unfunded mandates Augusta keeps passing down to our towns and school districts, which drive up property taxes every year.
I will also roll back hundreds of burdensome regulations that hold back economic growth, and I will work to cut and ultimately eliminate the individual income tax to spur growth and bring new investment to Maine.
Between last year and this year alone, total state spending jumped by about $1.3 billion, nearly half of what Maine collects in income tax. Since 2016, total state spending has grown by roughly $7 billion, about 80%. We will cut $1 billion in the first year and keep reducing the income tax in the years that follow.
Pingree
Maine’s tax system has asked too much of people who can afford it least, while working families fall further behind. I want to rebalance that: reward work, tax wealth fairly, and give middle- and low-income Mainers real relief, starting with property taxes.
I’ll double the Homestead Exemption, expand the Property Tax Fairness Credit so more households qualify, increase the benefit, and simplify the application so seniors and renters can access it. I’ll also work with bipartisan lawmakers and local leaders on a constitutional proposal to ensure non-resident owners of high-value second homes contribute fairly to the communities they impact.
With 482 municipalities, we need more regional cooperation to reduce costs and improve services. I’ll support new partnerships for EMS, public safety, and homeless services, while maintaining the state’s commitment to fund 55% of K-12 education so local property taxpayers aren’t left with the bill.
Maine took an important step with the new millionaire’s tax. I’ll build on that through a transparent process examining additional reforms to provide relief for working families.
Tax policy alone won’t grow Maine’s economy. Employers tell me they need skilled workers, housing, reliable infrastructure, and affordable energy. That’s why my economic plan invests in housing, workforce development, and industries that have long sustained Maine, including fishing, forestry, and farming, while supporting innovation and clean energy.
As governor, I’ll build a balanced budget that protects seniors, kids, and working families from Washington’s cuts to health care and food programs while being honest about the fiscal challenges ahead.
Do you believe climate change is real and made worse by burning fossil fuel? Would you encourage the development of more renewable energy in Maine? If so, what specific measures do you support? Do you support net energy billing? Should it be changed?
Pingree
Yes. Climate change is real, burning fossil fuels makes it worse, and Mainers are already paying the price through extreme storms, rising costs, threats to our farms, forests, and working waterfronts.
As speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, I took on the fossil fuel and chemical industries and won, passing Maine’s first meaningful greenhouse gas reduction targets and laws like the Kid Safe Products Act. As co-chair of the Maine Climate Council, I led Maine Won’t Wait and we delivered real results: more than 100,000 heat pumps installed two years ahead of schedule, and a Community Resilience Partnership that’s helped over 250 towns prepare for extreme weather. Energy experts rated Maine most improved in the country on efficiency.
So yes, I’ll keep pushing hard on affordable renewable energy and efficiency as governor: expanding heat pumps and weatherization, growing clean energy projects in our towns and schools, investing in resilient infrastructure before the next storm hits rather than after, and holding utilities and polluters accountable so families aren’t footing the bill.
Maine’s dependence on heating oil and natural gas leaves families vulnerable to volatile prices. Producing our own clean energy means independence, good Maine jobs, and keeping energy dollars here at home.
I support net energy billing, but it must be structured fairly so families who don’t have solar aren’t subsidizing overly generous contracts. Maine has already reformed the program. Going forward, I’ll prioritize community projects that benefit ratepayers as well as competitive, large-scale clean-energy procurements that deliver lower-cost power for all ratepayers, create Maine jobs, provide real support for host communities, and are responsibly sited. We can cut emissions, strengthen our economy, and lower energy costs at the same time.
Bennett
Yes. Climate change is real, and burning fossil fuels is making it worse. I trust science, and in Maine we can see the evidence: The Gulf of Maine is among the fastest warming water bodies in the world, and the January 2024 storms devastated harbors and working waterfronts.
Yes, I would encourage renewable energy development, but it must lower costs for Mainers, not just add generation. My plan: Create a Maine Generation Authority to build renewable energy and storage that Maine owns, stabilize supply costs, and sell excess power to the region at a profit, using the revenue to lower rates for Maine families instead of enriching out of state shareholders. I will reduce utility profits to lower delivery costs, modernize the grid for reliability, and fund $30 million in weatherization bonds, because the cheapest energy is the energy we don’t waste: every dollar through Efficiency Maine returns $3.70 to our economy. Renewable projects should be built here, owned here, and sited with real input from host communities and Wabanaki Nations.
On net energy billing: yes, with reform. I sponsored legislation to reform net energy billing tariff rates to protect ratepayers from cost shifting, and I was lead cosponsor of a bill to create a Net Energy Billing Cost Stabilization Fund to shield households and businesses from price spikes. Clean energy should mean cheaper energy. If we are going to power the region, Maine people should finally get the benefit.
Charles
Climate change is real.
But the most urgent question is how Mainers will pay their electric bills. Under a flawed and uncoordinated set of Mills-Pingree energy policies, electricity [supply] prices have gone from about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour to 19 cents in just eight years. Maine families cannot afford this.
We were promised these policies would cut carbon emissions and lower energy costs. Neither happened. Maine’s carbon emissions have grown at four times the national rate, and some energy costs have tripled.
Mainers are being crushed by energy policy malpractice, and our economy is paying the price. Maine now ranks 47th in the nation for economic growth, due in large part to unaffordable energy.
Much of what ratepayers pay has gone straight to Wall Street and global investors, including Goldman Sachs, Mitsubishi, the Carlyle Group and BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm.
My 12-point plan will restore accountability, affordability and reliability for Maine ratepayers. To the extent the law allows, we will put the failed net energy billing program behind us for good. We will also: Expand access to affordable natural gas; end the subsidies that have driven up electricity costs; lift the cap on hydropower; save our dams and the Sappi mill; review the roughly 400 laws that have driven prices sky high; put competent leaders on the Public Utilities Commission; put Maine ratepayers and affordability first; and explore greater use of biomass and small modular reactors.
Can you give examples of specific times when you have stood up to or voted against your political party or people with views similar to yours? Why did you do this? How did you decide to take a different position? What will you do to diminish the political partisanship that has divided Maine?
Charles
My campaign, and my time as governor, will be about solving problems and fixing what has made life in Maine unaffordable, unpredictable and, in too many places, unsafe.
I have always been an independent thinker. In Congress, I led a bipartisan drug policy working group with Democrats like Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Charlie Rangel of New York, alongside Republicans. I reach my positions based on facts and logic, not party.
That is why I have disagreed with the president on several issues. I oppose rolling back coal plant regulations, because coal emissions put mercury in Maine’s lakes. I oppose new tariffs on Canada, because 41% of Maine’s trade is with Canada. And having spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan, I do not favor a prolonged military engagement with Iran.
But Maine is where I can make a difference. As governor, I will work tirelessly with Republicans, independents and Democrats to make Maine more affordable and safer, to strengthen addiction treatment and recovery, and to end eight years of waste, fraud and abuse in Augusta.
Pingree
Yes. I’ve never believed my job is to follow a party line. My job is to do what’s right for Maine.
As House speaker, I led the fight to pass marriage equality, even when that meant pushing members of my own party who weren’t ready. I listened to the people whose lives were affected and worked to bring people along.
I was proud to be elected speaker unanimously, by Republicans, Democrats and independents. I worked with Republican Leader Josh Tardy to negotiate balanced bipartisan budgets and bond packages. We disagreed on plenty, but we trusted each other enough to negotiate honestly.
From my local school board to state government, I’ve worked with Republican leaders on everything from climate action and housing to economic recovery. I’ve learned you don’t have to agree on everything to get important things done.
That’s how I’ll govern. I’ll start with what’s best for Maine people, not which party gets credit. I’ll bring Democratic, Republican, and independent leaders to the table early and seek common ground without abandoning my values.
Maine is too small, and the challenges we face too serious, to govern by partisan warfare. That’s how things work in towns across Maine, where people don’t give up on their neighbors. We all want the same things for our families: housing and health care we can afford, good jobs, decent schools, and safe communities.
My record shows I can stand my ground when it matters, work across the aisle when we find common purpose, and get things done.
Bennett
As an independent governor, under my leadership it will never be about what’s best for Republicans, or best for Democrats. It will be about what’s best for Maine.
I will build two-thirds consensus budgets, open closed-door party caucuses to Maine’s Freedom of Access Act, and make all appointments on competence and character rather than party.
I was unanimously elected president of the Maine Senate under a bipartisan power sharing agreement, and we passed major legislation. I championed opening Maine’s primaries to unaffiliated voters, enfranchising roughly one third of the electorate. I introduced truth and disclosure legislation to unmask dark money, and I chaired the effort to ban foreign governments from spending in our elections. All efforts that have significant bipartisan support.
But independence is not just about standing up to your own side. It is about bringing people along to do the right thing. I helped bring my former caucus to support funding for community substance use recovery centers, because that work saves lives. On environmental issues, I worked across party lines and helped bring my former caucus to support major environmental bills. I also fought to expand broadband, because in rural Maine that is not a luxury. It is how people work, learn, and get health care.
I have always made those decisions the same way: not by asking what is best for a party, but what is best for Maine.
Why should we trust you?
Bennett
Because my record and my plan say the same thing, and because I will let Mainers verify it.
I served in the Maine House, spent four terms in the Maine Senate, including as president of the Senate elected unanimously by both parties, and returned to the Senate in 2020 after a career in business. My family has lived in Oxford County for more than 200 years. I have fought dark money, expanded broadband, and taken on the utilities.
I tell Mainers the truth even when it costs me. I won’t promise to slash taxes while defending a budget that grew 77% in a decade, and I won’t pretend that taxing someone else is the same as lowering your bill. Relief has to be the point of the policy, not a byproduct.
Trust is also about competence. The governor is chief executive of an organization with more than 13,500 employees and a $14.5 billion budget. I will publish what the state spends in plain language online, create an Office of Inspector General, pay Maine’s bills on time, and measure results publicly, so you can check my word against the record.
I am not running to protect the system. I am running to take it on. And I invite Mainers to hold me to that standard from day one.
Charles
Trust is earned. It comes from telling people the truth, caring about them and doing the job well. That is the standard I have held myself to all my life, and it is the standard I will bring to the Blaine House. As an Eagle Scout in Maine in my youth, a federal investigator, a Naval officer for 10 years, and someone who has worked for three presidents, two secretaries of state and two speakers of the House, my reputation is built on trust and getting things done.
Mainers deserve to know how their government spends their money. On day one, I will order a full, independent audit of state government and make the findings public, good and bad. I have pledged to take no campaign money from lobbyists, law firms that lobby, Central Maine Power or data centers, so I will owe no one a favor.
I grew up in Wayne. My mother taught public school for 40 years. I know what it means to stretch a paycheck, and after more than 17 months on the road across Maine, I have met families stretching further than ever. One of the finest leaders I ever served, Secretary of State Colin Powell, taught me that if you care about your people, they will care about you. He knew their names, their families and their dreams. I intend to govern the same way. Kindness is not weakness.
My mother made education the foundation of my life. It carried me from Maranacook High School to Dartmouth, to Oxford University on scholarship to study economics, and to Columbia Law School.
My life has been about earning and keeping trust. I clerked on a U.S. Court of Appeals, held the highest-level clearances as a Navy intelligence officer, served as a federal investigator, and conducted oversight of the largest departments of the federal government. I have always tried to live by the Scout Law, which begins with the word “trustworthy.”
As assistant secretary of state under Secretary Powell, I managed billions of dollars and thousands of people. I ran the department’s air wing, stood up police training in Iraq and Afghanistan, and oversaw law enforcement programs from Colombia to Kosovo. I cut costs and demanded results. Maine urgently needs that kind of seasoned, competent management, and it has not had it.
My word is my bond. Mainers deserve the truth, and that is what I will deliver as governor.
Pingree
You should trust me because you know me. I’m a lifelong Mainer — born in a rural community, where everyone cares about their neighbors and now raising my own teenage kids here. I’ve spent nearly 25 years of my life in public service because I care deeply about Maine people and our future.
Throughout my career, I’ve focused on getting things done to improve people’s lives. In the Legislature, I worked with Democrats, Republicans, and independents to tackle challenges like health care costs, housing, environmental protection, broadband expansion, and protecting our working waterfronts. As speaker, I earned the trust of colleagues across the aisle by showing up, listening, and bringing people together to solve problems.
When Gov. Janet Mills needed a leader to start the new “Office of the Future” to tackle housing, workforce challenges, economic recovery, and climate resilience, she trusted me with that responsibility. Whether in the State House or chairing my local school board, I’ve always believed leadership means showing up, listening to everyone, and staying at the table until the work is done.
At a time when so much of our politics is driven by division and anger, I think Mainers are looking for something different. Our kids deserve something different. They want leaders who will tell the truth, work hard, and put people ahead of politics. That’s how I’ve tried to lead throughout my career, and it’s how I’ll lead as governor: rolling up my sleeves, working with anyone willing to move Maine forward, and never forgetting who this work is for.