Maine Governor — 2026

What this office is

A governor is the state’s chief executive. Typical duties include proposing a budget, signing or vetoing bills, appointing some officials, and commanding the state National Guard under state and federal law. Term length and term limits are set by each state’s constitution. Lieutenant-governor pairing, if any, follows that state’s ballot design. The 2026 candidate guide says the November 3, 2026 general election for governor is decided by plurality, and that ranked-choice voting in that general election applies to U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress when the statutory conditions are met.

Why it matters in 2026

The general-election candidate list is the Secretary of State’s list of candidates for this office. The candidate guide states the plurality rule for the governor’s general election. This site does not call the race.

Names and order follow the general-election candidate list posted July 27, 2026. The list’s party column says Independent, R, and D. Republican and Democratic are the party words used on the Secretary of State’s sample ballots for partisan federal contests. A separate declared write-in list includes governor filings. Those write-in names are not repeated here. This page does not reprint residence municipalities from the candidate list.