Hannah Pingree won the Maine Democratic primary for governor early Friday morning, emerging victorious from a closely contested five-way race decided by ranked-choice voting. The former speaker of the Maine House was declared the winner at around 1:30 a.m. after election officials completed the tabulation process, which took nearly a week following the June 9 primary election.
Pingree, 49, of North Haven, overcame an early lead from clean energy entrepreneur Nirav Shah, who had held 26.8% of first-choice votes on election night. Pingree had placed second with 23.3%, according to the Associated Press. In the ranked-choice runoff, the candidate with the fewest votes—clean energy entrepreneur Angus King III—was eliminated first, followed by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in the second round and Maine Senate President Troy Jackson in the third round, leaving Pingree and Shah as the final two candidates.
The strategy of cross-endorsement among the three middle-tier candidates appears to have proven decisive. Weeks before the election, Pingree, Jackson, and Bellows announced they would rank each other on their ballots, a move designed to consolidate support among progressive voters. Their supporters’ second and third-choice rankings ultimately flowed to Pingree in the ranked-choice tabulation.
A Record of Legislative Leadership
Pingree ran on her extensive record in Maine government. She served as the 99th speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 2008 to 2010 and, most recently, held the position of director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future under Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. In that role, she co-chaired the Maine Climate Council and led the state’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, which included efforts to install over 100,000 heat pumps statewide.
During her campaign, Pingree positioned herself as a consensus-builder capable of working across party lines. She also made opposition to the Trump administration a central theme, though she emphasized her ability to find common ground when necessary. The Portland Press Herald reported that she was the leading fundraiser throughout the race and secured endorsements from Gov. Mills and dozens of state lawmakers and officials.
Path to November
Pingree will face Republican Bobby Charles, a Navy veteran and former State Department official who won the GOP primary following his own ranked-choice runoff, and independent Rick Bennett in the November 3 general election. The winner will succeed Mills, who reached her term limit after serving two four-year terms beginning in 2019.
In her statement Friday morning, Pingree said she was grateful for the results and called for unity heading into the general election. “Heading into November, I need all of you—whether I was your first choice or your fifth or you didn’t participate in the primary at all—because beating Bobby Charles and Rick Bennett requires a diverse coalition of Mainers in this state pulling together,” she said.
Sources
- Portland Press Herald — confirmed Pingree’s ranked-choice victory, the elimination order of candidates, first-choice vote totals, and details of the cross-endorsement strategy
- NEWS CENTER Maine — reported the timing of the ranked-choice results announcement and Pingree’s full statement
- Wikipedia — verified Pingree’s service as the 99th speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 2008 to 2010
- Maine Public — confirmed Pingree’s role as director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and her work on Maine’s climate action plan
