Race · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Governor

What this job does

Maine's top state official. The governor runs the state's departments, proposes the state budget, signs or vetoes bills passed by the Legislature, and picks judges and department heads (the state Senate must confirm them). A term is four years, and a governor can serve no more than two terms in a row. source: ballotpedia.org

Janet Mills (Democrat) is governor today and cannot run again because of term limits. This race does NOT use ranked-choice voting: in Maine, the general election for governor is decided by whoever gets the most votes.

Rick Bennett IndependentState senator; president and CEO of ValueEdge Advisors
Robert B. Charles RepublicanPresident and managing member of The Charles Group LLC, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm; former Assistant Secretary of State
Hannah M. Pingree DemocraticFormer Speaker of the Maine House; former director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future

Candidates in the order the Maine Secretary of State: Elections and Voting lists them . Your ballot may show the candidates in a different order. Declared write-in candidates are listed by the Secretary of State.