None of the five Democrats vying to succeed Gov. Janet Mills have endorsed the $300 relief checks she is pushing for in her final state budget.
Three of them — former state public health chief Nirav Shah, former clean energy executive Angus King III and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson — said the state should not use surplus money for the checks to roughly 514,000 people. All five backed a millionaire tax that lawmakers tacked onto the proposal with the governor’s support.
It illustrates tension within the party that Mills is navigating as the outgoing governor and the underdog in a U.S. Senate primary with newcomer Graham Platner. Maine has not elected consecutive governors from the same party in more than 70 years, and Mills had just a 40% approval rating in a recent Emerson College poll.
Democrats in the governor’s race said the budget and its 2% tax on income over $1 million would help Mainers grappling with higher prices under President Donald Trump’s policies, a dominant theme in national politics likely to reverberate in the primary and general elections. They largely supported their party’s budget, which faces united Republican opposition.
For example, Shah said in a statement he supported both the minimum teacher salary and the millionaire tax “as critical steps forward.” But Shah said he “would not drain the rainy day fund right now” for the relief checks that Mills is conditioning her support of the budget on.
The fund “would do far more good invested directly in food assistance, MaineCare, and property tax relief for working families,” Shah said in a statement critical of Trump-led cuts.
King, the son and namesake of Maine’s independent U.S. senator, said the budget has “good, practical ideas” addressing challenges in housing, property taxes, health care and education. But he cautioned against tapping into state surpluses to write the checks.
“While a $300 check can make a real difference for many, I wish that it was much more targeted, so we could keep more of our powder dry to defend against the Trump cuts as they come.”
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, has run aggressively against Mills during the primary while citing their long history of disagreements on tribal rights, taxes, labor and prescription drug legislation.
He noted Mills’ longstanding opposition to a millionaire tax, suggesting Platner’s entry has moved the governor left. (Mills spokesperson Tommy Garcia noted raises for state workers, a minimum teacher salary increase, tax changes and progress with tribes.)
“It is amazing what difference a year makes,” Jackson said in a statement. “I guess all we needed was for Graham to get in the Senate race.”
Former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree, who ran Mills’ policy office before launching her campaign last year, believes “the wealthiest should pay their fair share,” spokesperson Mary-Erin Casale said. She did not answer a question on the relief checks.
Pingree would “pursue additional measures to make Maine’s tax code more progressive” and shift more of the property tax burdens to non-residents, Casale added.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows also did not address the checks in a statement, saying she would work with lawmakers to expand many of the affordability-focused parts of the budget and prioritize strengthening schools and expanding health care access.
“The budget contains a lot of promising things, like a millionaire’s tax and direct property tax relief,” she said.
