Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
The five Democrats running for Maine governor gently diverged from Gov. Janet Mills on issues from data centers to the state budget in their first televised debate of the primary season on Thursday.
The hour-long forum featuring former public health chief Nirav Shah, former clean energy executive Angus King III, former Senate President Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former House Speaker Hannah Pingree came the same day Mills dropped out of the U.S. Senate race, effectively ceding that primary to Graham Platner.
It was a cordial event in a campaign that has been cautious because of deep uncertainty in the race and Maine’s ranked-choice voting primaries. But the candidates were clear in how they would differ from a governor that each of them would be tied to on the campaign trail.
Every candidate except King has said they would have signed the data center ban that Mills vetoed this month that would have imposed a temporary pause on new artificial intelligence data centers to study their energy and rate impacts. Each of the candidates has shown more willingness than the governor to engage around sweeping tribal sovereignty reforms.
“It is very important that we put guardrails around AI data centers and ensure that they are not jacking up the rates of electricity ratepayers,” Pingree said.
Bellows noted that topic as well as the governor’s management of the embattled child welfare system. She said she would start a Cabinet-level Office of Family and the Child, seeking universal child care and other community intervention programs aiming to keep children safe.
Shah, who served under the governor, outlined a longer series of “honest disagreements,” including Mills’ refusal to limit state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement before she allowed a law to go into effect this year and her past opposition to gun control measures. King noted his opposition to the state’s recent $300 checks to residents paid out of surplus funds.
“I just thought that the rainy day fund is going to be something that we are absolutely going to need in the future to help satisfy and cover our budget,” he said.
Jackson, who has the most adversarial history with the governor who vetoed around 40 of his bills, pointed to prescription drug pricing as a defining failure. He argued Maine could have had a drug price cap law on the books for three years already, Colorado just passed a similar bill.
“I get calls still from constituents that have to limit their prescriptions,” he said. “They’re worried about paying the rent, they’re worried about making their health care decisions, and they’re skipping prescriptions.”
The candidates broadly agreed that 55% state funding should be a floor for all school districts and that the minimum teacher salary needs to rise faster. However, Jackson called the Legislature’s recently passed law to raise minimum teacher salaries from $40,000 to $50,000 by 2029 “a joke” and pushed instead for a $60,000 floor.
Health care and housing discussions revealed some clearer contrasts. Pingree and Bellows backed aggressive renter protections. While Pingree favors a public option to compete with private insurance plans, Shah favors using existing executive authority to cap copays and deductibles.
On housing, he proposed a “Maine first look” law, giving in-state buyers a 30-day window on lower-priced homes before out-of-state investors can bid. He framed the closure of rural maternity wards in recent years as one of economic survival for rural communities.
“When families can’t have a baby without driving two or three hours, they’re not going to move to Machias or Houlton, and that harms the entire town,” Shah said.
The Bangor Daily News and CBS News 13 will host a Democratic gubernatorial debate Tuesday at 7 p.m., followed by a Republican debate the following Thursday.
