The Democratic and Republican primaries for governor of Maine are both up in the air, with a broad field of candidates competing and Maine’s ranked choice voting system adding another layer of complexity.
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No candidate in either primary will get majority support, NBC News projects, meaning both contests will go to ranked choice tabulations to determine the nominees.
In 2016, Maine was the first state to implement ranked choice voting for statewide and federal elections. When no one gets a majority, support from lower-performing candidates is reallocated to those voters’ next choices, and the process repeats until a candidate wins.
The governorship is open because Janet Mills, who was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, is barred by term limits from running again. Physician Nirav Shah is narrowly in first place in the Democratic primary, well under 50%, while Mills’ chosen candidate — Democrat Hannah Pingree, the former state House speaker and the daughter of Rep. Chellie Pingree — is in second.
Former state Senate President Troy Jackson has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
The ranked choice system has shaped other big campaign maneuvers. Late last month, three of the five Democrats in the race — Jackson, Pingree and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows — cross-endorsed one another and announced they would rank one another at the tops of their ballots.
The three candidates have campaigned together and highlighted their shared priorities, urging their supporters to go along, as well, isolating Shah. Shah encouraged voters in a video released June 1 to rank him second if he is not their first choice.
On the Republican side, Bobby Charles leads in the first-choice tally after he was seen as the favorite in the weeks leading up to the primary election.
Charles, 65, is a former naval intelligence officer and standing president of the Charles Group LLC, a Washington-based lobbying firm. He was head of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in President George W. Bush’s administration. He often cites his experience in federal government and national security.
“I need to take an ax right now to failed woke policies,” Charles said in a campaign ad that featured him chopping wood. “It is time that we cut crime, cut taxes, cut sanctuary cities and cut woke.”
Charles faces a Republican primary field including healthcare technology businessman Jonathan Bush, real estate businessman David Jones, former state legislator Garrett Mason and fitness industry businessman Ben Midgley.
The state, which has elected governors from both parties in recent decades, is known for its independent-minded electorate. Mills was preceded by two terms from Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
