AUGUSTA, Maine — A new Maine law equalizing campaign contribution limits for gubernatorial candidates could end up helping a veteran legislator if he runs as an independent.
Gov. Janet Mills decided Sunday to let a proposal from Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, establishing a primary election period for unenrolled candidates to become law without her signature. Neither the proposal nor testimony mentioned his name, but Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, could benefit from the new statute.
That is because Bennett, 62, who in previous decades flirted with running for governor, has declined to rule out running as an independent in the 2026 race to succeed Mills, a Democrat who is termed out of office next year. The field has steadily grown on both the Republican and Democratic sides, but the well-connected lawmaker could shake up the race.
Brenner, who previously hosted a podcast with Bennett, only said her proposal was a matter of “fairness” rather than trying to help any one candidate. Maine currently allows privately funded gubernatorial candidates to raise $4,150 from any one donor equally divided between the primary and general elections.
Those who qualify for the ballot as independents go straight to the general election, so Maine law caps contributions for unenrolled candidates at $2,075. That served to push independent candidates toward the taxpayer-funded Clean Election program, which former State Treasurer Terry Hayes ran under in 2018 when Mills was elected to her first term.
Brenner noted that more than a third of Maine voters are unenrolled and said the change “merely equals the playing field for candidates to represent that part of the electorate.” It also aligns Maine with federal election law on contribution limits.
Anticipating concerns from her peers and election advocacy groups including the League of Women Voters of Maine, Brenner testified earlier this year that independents campaign at the same pace and for the same length of time as party-affiliated opponents and that the Clean Election Act system is a separate conversation.
“It’s a long overdue measure for fairness and helps to release the lock of the two parties on our electoral system,” Brenner said.
Bennett was among the supporters of a 2024 referendum that Maine voters overwhelmingly approved to limit individuals and groups to donating $5,000 per year to committees that can spend freely in candidate elections. Political groups tied to Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, argued the new law “suppresses” free speech and filed a lawsuit over it that remains pending in court.
Bennett said in a State House hallway Wednesday he was not involved in crafting Brenner’s proposal but called the new change “a logical thing to do.” He was coy when asked about any plans to run for governor.
“I will tell you when I make a decision,” Bennett said.
