The Democratic gubernatorial primary is heading to a ranked-choice count with four of the five candidates bunched in a tight cluster.
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson had 26.5% of votes, followed by former House Speaker Hannah Pingree at 24.4%, former Maine public health chief Nirav Shah at 21% and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows at 20.8%. Former energy executive Angus King III was behind at 7.4% around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, when the Bangor Daily News and Decision Desk HQ projected the race will go to a ranked-choice count next week.
Shah, who became a household name while leading the state’s pandemic response, entered the primary after months as a frontrunner. But in a race that’s become increasingly bitter in recent weeks, Jackson and Pingree caught up in recent polls. Maine’s ranked-choice dynamics leave an unsettled race with Bellows still firmly in the mix.
Shah benefited from roughly $1.6 million on advertising when combining his own spending with support from 314 Action, a progressive group backing his candidacy. Pingree spent nearly $952,000 on her own ads. Jackson spent modestly on advertising himself but benefited from nearly $915,000 in spending by the union-funded Working Mainers First PAC.
In a recent ranked-choice simulation by SurveyUSA in partnership with the Bangor Daily News and the electoral reform group FairVote, Pingree came out on top over Shah after picking up more second- and third-choice votes when other candidates dropped out of contention.
At Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner’s urging last month, Pingree, Jackson and Bellows formed an alliance and encouraged voters to pick each other second or third. The move served to try to box out Shah, who previously led several polls in a row earlier this year.
The Democratic candidates have largely gotten along on the campaign trail and during debates. But tensions have flared over outside spending and late campaign tactics, especially between Jackson and Shah as polls have tightened. Shah’s campaign filed a complaint over the weekend with the Maine Ethics Commission after people were targeted with an anonymous text boosting Jackson, Bellows and Pingree without disclosure of who paid for the messages.
Shah and King are more moderate than the aligned trio. Shah has said he agrees with his opponents on many key issues and that he respects their public service. But he’s said his campaign is more results-driven.
The candidates have all released several plans around investments in education, health care and child care, taxes, housing and the environment. Shah has received support from many health care professionals, veterans and a handful of local government officials, but barely any public backing from Augusta lawmakers compared to Jackson, Bellows and Pingree, who all served in the Legislature.
Shah ran largely on his role managing the pandemic, something that was on the minds of many of his voters on Tuesday. After voting at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Amy Smith, a 51-year-old who works in a doctor’s office, said she voted for him while seeking a leader for hard times.
“Shah has great ideas and has worked hard,” she said. “He was good during COVID.”
But Nina Lipscombe, 39, of Houlton said she voted for Jackson at the polls Tuesday, drawn to his and Platner’s working-class message.
“They especially speak to the real problems of working class and rural Mainers who too often feel ignored,” she said.
BDN writers Kasey Turman and Cameron Levasseur contributed to this report.