In victory speech, Pingree vows to fight for Maine

This story has been updated.

Democrat Hannah Pingree has been declared the winner in Maine’s gubernatorial election, according to an initial call by the Bangor Daily News and Decision Desk HQ. 

The former speaker of the Maine House of Representatives defeated Republican Bobby Charles and independent Rick Bennett in the three-way contest to succeed Gov. Janet Mills. 

Speaking to a cheering room of supporters, Pingree thanked her family, who were on stage with her, and congratulated her mother, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, on her victory. Then she turned her focus to the next four years, saying, “I want to talk about what this night means.” 

“It’s not about me. It is about all of us,” she said. “It is about our future.”

Pingree reiterated her campaign promises of making housing more affordable, improving public schools and supporting small businesses, vowing to work with Republicans and independents to achieve the best results. 

“And if someone threatens our people, our rights, or our state, I will stand up and fight,” she said. “I will not back down.”

As of 11:20 p.m., Pingree had secured 49.8% of votes while Charles had 41.9% and Bennett had 8.3% with 43% of votes counted, according to the Bangor Daily News, which gathered totals from municipalities and partnered with Decision Desk HQ to make the call. The Associated Press has yet to call the race.

Pingree said she heard from both her competitors, who called her after the race was called.

Pingree had been seen as the frontrunner and her campaign raised more money than both of her opponents combined. According to the Maine Ethics Commission, the Democrat raised more than $4.9 million. Charles has raised just over $2 million, and as of last week Bennett has raised slightly below a million dollars.

The results mean Democrats will continue to control the Blaine House for the next four years. Pingree previously served under Mills as the inaugural head of the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future. 

Charles, a former lobbyist and federal official, rose to prominence among a crowded field of Republican candidates in the primary by aligning himself with President Donald Trump. After he won the nomination, he distanced himself from the administration, criticizing tariffs on Canada and certain environmental policies. 

In the last two months of the campaign, Charles shifted his focus toed on accusing Pingree and Mills of corruption.  

On election night, Charles emerged in a U.S. Navy baseball hat and bomber jacket over his tie, and his daughter introduced him, and praised his campaign efforts with a shaky voice.

Several people in the room groaned when Charles said he called Pingree and congratulated her. 

“For tonight, my message to Hannah Pingree is: be the agent of change,” he said. “Your success is Maine’s success. We will be watching, all of us. We will hope for the best, but we will be prepared for what follows.”

But he also assured supporters that he would not stop fighting, saying his campaign was the “start of a movement.” 

Bennett left the Republican Party last year to run as an independent, focusing on detailed policy proposals and meeting Mainers in their communities through walking tours. However, his campaign failed to garner widespread support, and his fundraising lagged behind both Pingree and Charles.

Bennett did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some Pingree supporters at the Maine Democrats’ election night party in Portland said a governor who supports working class people will be a welcome change. 

“Even when we’ve had you know Democratic people there, we have not necessarily had people who were going to fight for workers,” said Windham resident Lori Poland, who is a member of the American Postal Workers’ Union, referring to the outgoing governor’s record on labor and other issues. 

“There’s a lot of things like farmworker rights, Wabanaki sovereignty… that Hannah has promised us,” Poland said, listing some of the issues on which Pingree said she would break from Mills.

Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said Pingree has “run an incredible race.”

“We actually have a three-person race, and we’ve seen what that has meant in the past,” she said, referring to previous gubernatorial elections that featured independent candidates who split the vote with Democrats. “So we were definitely not on a path where this was going to be an outcome that was guaranteed.”

Portland residents Olivia Richards, 30, and Lily Hanks, 26, both from Portland, both said Pingree “feels like she is really for the people.”

When young people wonder how to buy a house or stay in the state despite affordability challenges, Richards said, Pingree’s experience working on housing issues gives them hope. 

“I think she as a lifelong Mainer is really invested in wanting to keep people in the state and kind of knows what that would take, to keep people here,” she said.

Kaitlyn Budion contributed reporting to this story.