Maine — Governor

D Democratic Hannah Pingree

Supports $100M housing investment and anti-homelessness plan

Pingree proposes a comprehensive state housing initiative centered on investing $100 million annually to finance affordable and middle-income home construction. Her plan includes streamlining state permitting with a 90-day time limit, curbing out-of-state corporate speculation, expanding eviction prevention, and ending veteran homelessness in her first year.

• Invest $100 million annually to finance new construction and preservation of affordable housing across Maine.
• Streamline state environmental and safety permitting to set a 90-day processing time limit.
• Protect resident-owned mobile home co-ops and leverage a state land bank against out-of-state corporate buyers.
• Permanently fund free community college and create 1,000 construction apprenticeships to expand the building workforce.
• Fully implement the Home for Good program and commit to ending veteran homelessness in her first year in office.

“Invest $100 Million a Year in Housing: Provide consistent funding for the development and preservation of homes across Maine that are affordable and attainable.”

“End veteran homelessness in her first year in office.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports common-sense homelessness enforcement policies

Charles links homelessness policy directly to public safety and municipal accountability. He advocates enforcing common-sense standards to restore safety to local streets and public spaces.

• Enforce strict, common-sense public safety policies regarding homelessness.
• Include homelessness oversight as part of broader municipal safety and accountability measures.

“enforce common-sense policies on homelessness”

D Democratic Hannah Pingree

Supports targeted investments to ease living costs

Pingree focuses on lowering cost-of-living burdens through targeted investments in housing, child care, and healthcare. She supports local trades and small manufacturers through state partnerships and tuition-free community college.

• Lower essential household costs in housing, healthcare, and child care.
• Permanently fund free community college to expand technical and trade skills.
• Support local building trades and small construction businesses.

“As costs rise across Maine — from groceries and gas to child care and health care — access to safe, affordable housing has never been more urgent.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports abolishing the state income tax

Charles pledges to eliminate Maine's state income tax to relieve financial pressure on businesses and working families. His economic agenda focuses on slashing regulations, cutting red tape, and ending costly state mandates to foster growth.

• Abolish the Maine state income tax to let workers keep more earnings.
• Slash unnecessary regulations and red tape to spur business investment.
• End costly political mandates and protect taxpayers.

“He pledges to abolish the state income tax, slash unnecessary regulation, and cut the red tape that stifles economic growth, so Mainers can keep more of what they earn and attract more opportunity to our state.”

D Democratic Hannah Pingree

Supports free community college and trade training

Pingree emphasizes expanding postsecondary and technical education opportunities. Her platform centers on permanently funding free community college and expanding career and technical education partnerships in the construction trades.

• Permanently fund Maine's free community college program.
• Expand CTE programs and fund 1,000 construction apprenticeships.

“Permanently fund Maine’s free community college program.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Opposes liberal ideology and supports core subjects

Charles calls for removing ideology from public schools and refocusing curricula on foundational subjects like reading, math, and science. He advocates for educational freedom, curriculum transparency, and protecting parents' input in education.

• Refocus classroom instruction on core subjects: reading, math, and science.
• Eliminate so-called woke indoctrination from public schools.
• Establish curriculum transparency and expand educational freedom for parents.

“Bobby Charles’ plan is to refocus on core subjects: reading, math, and science, and eliminate so-called "woke" indoctrination from classrooms.”

D Democratic Hannah Pingree

Supports protecting rural healthcare and birthing units

Pingree highlights the loss of hospital birthing units in rural Maine as a major issue for families. She submitted official public comments advocating to protect rural healthcare access and expand affordable care statewide.

• Oppose closures of hospital-based birthing units in rural hospitals.
• Expand healthcare access and affordability for Maine families.

“The state has lost twelve hospital-based birthing units, nine of them in just the past few years, including units at St. Mary's in Lewiston, Waldo Hospital in Belfast, and Houlton Regional Hospital.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports addiction recovery and mental health funding

Charles links health policy directly to fighting substance abuse. He promises to expand state support for addiction recovery and mental health services to reduce overdose deaths.

• Increase state support for addiction recovery programs.
• Expand mental health services to prevent overdose and violence.

“He will strengthen law enforcement, increase support for addiction recovery and mental health services, and ensure our communities are no longer losing loved ones to violence and overdose.”

D Democratic Hannah Pingree

Supports regulatory permitting efficiency

Pingree frames government reform around operational efficiency. She proposes streamlining agency permitting processes, simplifying applications, and establishing a 90-day decision deadline for state building approvals.

• Set a 90-day permit processing time limit for state agencies like DEP and the Fire Marshal.
• Simplify permit paperwork and create fast-track legal processes for appeals.
• Provide sample pre-approved building designs and technical support to local towns.

“Streamline and simplify state and local permit approvals and support land use reforms that allow homes to be built faster, smarter, and more predictably.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports rooting out bureaucratic corruption and fraud

Charles features a 20-Point Accountability Plan to eliminate fraud, waste, and political patronage in state government. He calls for replacing political appointees with independent experts and strictly auditing government agencies.

• Execute a 20-Point Accountability Plan to target government fraud and waste.
• Replace political appointees with non-partisan experts.
• Enforce strict criminal accountability across public programs.

“CRACK DOWN ON GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND FRAUD”

“ROOT OUT BUREAUCRATIC CORRUPTION”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports dismantling drug cartels and empowering police

Charles makes crime reduction a pillar of his campaign, pledging to dismantle drug cartel networks operating across Maine's borders. His platform calls for rebuilding law enforcement, enforcing strict criminal accountability, and expanding addiction recovery and mental health services.

• Dismantle drug cartel networks operating inside and across Maine borders.
• Rebuild and empower law enforcement agencies.
• Enforce strict public safety, criminal accountability, and immigration policies.
• Increase support for addiction recovery and mental health treatment services.

“As Governor, Bobby Charles will dismantle cartel networks operating inside and across our borders. He will strengthen law enforcement, increase support for addiction recovery and mental health services, and ensure our communities are no longer losing loved ones to violence and overdose.”

R Republican Bobby Charles

Supports cutting energy costs and expert regulation

Charles promises to reduce energy costs by overhauling state utility oversight. He advocates replacing political appointees with industry experts to restore grid reliability and lower utility bills.

• Cut energy costs for Maine households and businesses.
• Replace political appointees on energy boards with technical industry experts.
• Restore and protect reliable power infrastructure.

“CUT ENERGY COSTS FOR MAINERS”