Politics
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Bobby Charles, a lawyer who served under several former Republican presidents, announced Tuesday he will run in the 2026 race to become Maine’s next governor.
Although his name is not broadly known in his home state, Charles has increasingly popped up as a rumored gubernatorial candidate in Republican circles while making radio and Fox News appearances. The Maine Republican Party also briefly floated him last year as someone to run against Democratic Attorney General Aaron Frey before lawmakers decided on another candidate.
His entrance into the race to succeed Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat termed out of office next year, comes at a time when no well-known Republicans have launched bids yet and only Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has formally announced a run on the Democratic side.
The field on both sides will grow in the coming months. Republicans are buoyed by the fact Maine has not consecutively elected governors of the same party since 1959, although the state has shifted toward Democrats since former Gov. Paul LePage won his second term nearly a decade ago.
Charles, 64, who grew up in Wayne and now lives in nearby Leeds, was the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs under former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2003 to 2005. He oversaw programs focused on combating drug trafficking in 70 countries while also setting up police training in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia and Kosovo.
Charles served as a naval intelligence officer for a decade and had several colleagues die at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He also handled investigations in the 1990s for the oversight-related committee in the U.S. House of Representatives after working on domestic policy in the administrations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
In a Tuesday interview, Charles mentioned drugs and public safety, affordability and education as Maine’s biggest problems he would tackle. He noted he comes from a family of educators and said Democrats, Republicans and independents he spoke with during the past 18 months about running largely agree on what the state needs to fix.
He struck a confident tone in explaining what he would do if elected governor while not delving into specifics.
“Within 24 months, I can get organized crime out of this state. Within 24 months, I can shut down most of the fentanyl coming into this state,” Charles said. “I will drive taxes down and restore affordability … and then I will give people confidence again in our education system.”
He criticized Mills and Democratic leaders by saying they “own the failures that are plaguing average Mainers.” Charles said his resume will make him stand out as more names enter the gubernatorial pool. Another rumored candidate — Jonathan S. Bush — has literal ties to the Bush family as the nephew and cousin of the 41st and 43rd presidents, respectively.
After working abroad, Charles purchased his home on Androscoggin Lake, which he grew up on, in 2005 and started living full time in Maine again several years ago. He reiterated he did not know what happened behind the scenes late last year after the Maine Republican Party initially announced him as the attorney general candidate before lawmakers instead nominated former Attorney General Bill Schneider, who lost to Frey.
While crediting President Donald Trump for his narcotics-related policies and not touching on his ongoing targeting of Maine, Charles critiqued Maine Republicans who have been the minority party in Augusta since the 2018 election by saying his party must “put aside the peripheral things and unify behind the big things.”
Charles also said he will have a strong ground game in Maine, mentioning he was in Washington a few weeks ago and spoke with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
“A lot of people seem enthused by the idea that someone can actually straighten things out,” Charles said. “The fundraising piece will fall into line very, very quickly.”
