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.
Sitting in third place in the tight Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson has gone off the grid, fishing and spending time with family in Aroostook County for a long weekend with little to no phone service.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, currently fourth but still with a shot to become the Democratic nominee, posted a Wednesday photo with her husband at an Augusta brewery. Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree headed home with family in North Haven Wednesday after her primary party in Portland the night before.
“Now it’s just a matter of patience,” Pingree spokesperson Mary-Erin Casale said.
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After a primary night without closure, several candidates aiming to replace Gov. Janet Mills are playing the waiting game, spinning the results and trying to relax at home with families after barnstorming the state for months, watching late results trickle in or readying to keep close watch of Augusta’s ranked-choice counting starting Friday.
The next phase of the primary marks a lull that could take about a week following an increasingly bitter season on both sides of the aisle. Law enforcement officers are delivering results from towns across Maine to Augusta, where election officials on Friday will begin tabulating both parties’ gubernatorial primaries and the tight Democratic battle for the 2nd Congressional District. The state hopes to wrap up before next Friday.
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The wait has given way to calls for party unity by the Republican and Democratic frontrunners, lawyer Bobby Charles and former Maine public health chief Nirav Shah, respectively. It also opened a door for the only independent on the ballot in November, state Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford. With stops in Waterville and Bangor, the former Republican launched a statewide tour Thursday focused on affordability, Maine’s economy and restoring trust in government.
Keeping in style with his aggressive year-long campaign, Charles has been active on social media since racking up just over 37% of first-round votes on Tuesday. But he said he wanted to “take an unusual moment” to thank his supporters and those who voted for his opponents in a Facebook video Thursday morning. He also said he’d reach out to every candidate, several of whom traded blows with him over policy and tactics for months.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles listens to a speaker at an event featuring Vice President JD Vance at the Bangor International Airport on May 14. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN
“At the end of the day, we hang together or we hang separately,” Charles, who attended a Thursday fundraiser for state Rep. Ken Fredette’s political committee in Newport, said. “This is one team, one fight to save Maine.”
Shah on Wednesday afternoon thanked his opponents, including former energy executive Angus King III, saying “our party is stronger” because of the group’s dedication to Maine.
Bellows, Jackson and Pingree formed a ranked-choice alliance backed by U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner. All expressed confidence about their individual performance. It remains to be seen who picks up most of King’s lower-ranked votes. The son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King got just over 8% of votes.
Christine Kirby, Jackson’s spokesperson, noted the Allagash logger won both Portland and Bangor on Tuesday, a strong performance in a race “largely overshadowed by the U.S. Senate race and dominated by legacy names and high profile figures.”
Casale said at first glance it’s odd to be excited about second place. But given the dynamics of ranked-choice voting and recent polling showing Pingree rising “at a critical time in the race,” it means “we are in a good position,” she said. Bellows’ team highlighted a Bangor Daily News simulation showing her as a narrow favorite due to strong second-choice support.
Independent candidate, Sen. Rick Bennett speaks at the first-ever Wabanaki Alliance Gubernatorial Candidate forum on March 19 in Houlton. Credit: Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli / The County
On the Republican side, fitness executive Ben Midgley and entrepreneur Jonathan Bush trail Charles after picking up 20.2% and 20% support, respectively. Bush had recently polled in second place, while Midgley has been anywhere from 2% to 10% in recent surveys.
“No campaign outperformed the polls the way Ben Midgley did,” Brent Littlefield, his strategist, said.
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Bush and former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason and their allies spent almost $8.5 million combined in ads. Midgley’s team booked only about $264,000 according to AdImpact, and he loaned his campaign $750,000. Charles spent less than all of them at just over $240,000 on advertising.
Mason, who received about 11% of the vote, said the results marked “the end of my final statewide campaign” in a Thursday post on X thanking supporters, family and staff. He encouraged voters to back U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Republicans in the Legislature but did not mention his rivals.
Charles noted on social media that his campaign has “witnesses, lawyers and tough voter integrity experts working with us” during the ranked-choice count. One of his posts Thursday included images of Shah and Jackson alongside Mills, claiming they amounted to “more of the same.” Bennett’s face was lumped in with the Democrats.
“I’m sure I’m in his [and Democrats’] minds,” Bennett said in an interview between conversations with voters and volunteers at Geaghan’s Pub in Bangor on Thursday. “I’m sure they have numbers that show there’s a good chance I will be Maine’s next governor … because what they’re serving up is just more finger-pointing, no problem solving.”
A sign taped to a window at the Palace Diner in Biddeford shares the diner’s hours and reminds customers it accepts cash only. The restaurant was open 24/7 during the city’s heyday as a mill town but now only opens for breakfast and lunch. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
For decades, Dysart’s Restaurant and Truck Stop was the kind of spot where night didn’t really end.
Truckers came off long-haul drives looking for coffee and a hot meal. Hospital workers stopped in after overnight shifts. When the bars closed, late-night crowds spilled through the doors, still awake and hungry. At any hour, someone could sit down just outside Bangor and be served a hot meal.
But in 2019, Dysart’s ended its around-the-clock restaurant service, marking what felt like the end of an era for Maine’s late-night dining scene.
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Once, a handful of diners and roadside restaurants across the state stayed open through the night, serving the workers, travelers and night owls who kept Maine moving after dark. Today, those options have all but disappeared.
What remains is mostly convenience-store food and a handful of 24/7 Burger King locations.
Restaurant industry veterans and experts say a host of combining factors have made 24/7 restaurants harder to sustain, including Maine’s demographics and changes to the way people work.
Norman O’Reilly, dean of the University of New England’s College of Business, says Maine’s status as the nation’s oldest state is likely a key factor.
“Most of those people are retired, or semi-retired, or doing consulting work,” he said. “They’re not out looking for a Becky’s late-night coffee and meals, right?”
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O’Reilly also said the seasonal, tourist-centric nature of Maine’s economy creates inconsistency, making it potentially harder for businesses to maintain 24/7 service year-round.
Maine’s not alone in having fewer all-night options: A Yelp survey found that 24/7 restaurants declined nationwide by 11% from 2020 to 2025. Even New York City, “the City that Never Sleeps,” has seen a decrease; the New York Times attributed that to rising costs and changing sleep schedules.
Until 2019, Dysart’s Restaurant in Hermon was one of the last 24/7 restaurants that’s not a major chain in Maine. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
THE LAST BASTION
Dysart’s, founded in 1967 in Hermon, was one of the last true 24/7 restaurants in the state.
“Either in 2016 or 2017, we started noticing a significant difference,” said Carol Brooks, a manager with more than 20 years of experience at the restaurant.
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Brooks attributes the decline in late-night diners to two trends: changes in the trucking industry and a downturn in local nightlife.
“When they started making the truck drivers stop for a full eight hours, they (would just) come in and sleep,” she said. “They don’t eat anymore at night because they don’t have to keep on the road.”
O’Reilly also noted the advent of remote work in recent years has meant fewer people stopping for a meal on their way home.
Brooks reminisced about how Dysart’s used to often see an influx of late-night partiers after the bars closed — everyone from the patrons of the local strip club, Diamonds, to hospital shift workers coming off duty.
But soon, it got to the point where Dysart’s was spending more money staying open at all night than it was they were making. By then, the restaurant only had one cook and one server for the overnight shift.
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O’Reilly noted that there’s been a national decline in nightlife, with fewer Americans going out to bars and restaurants late at night, making around-the-clock dining less profitable for businesses.
Although Dysart’s restaurant is no longer 24/7, its adjacent truck stop is. It’s stocked with premade hot meals like pot pies and hot dogs. While nothing compared to the menu once offered all night, sales of the premade meals are steady, Brooks says, with a lot of late-night construction workers stopping by to grab a bite.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?
It’s not clear exactly how many 24/7 joints once operated in Maine, but many Mainers can recall at least one they frequented in the past.
Biddeford’s popular Palace Diner used to serve patrons 24/7 in the 1960s, said co-owner Chad Conley. Although now the diner closes at 2 p.m. each day, back when Biddeford was a bustling mill town, Palace Diner served workers as they got off shifts throughout the night.
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In Maine’s industrial heyday, the 15-seater railcar diner was a bustling center of activity.
“The shifts were happening around the clock, and people needed to stop in and have a quick meal,” Conley said. “It just made sense for the business to be open 24 hours a day when there was a constant stream of workers coming in and out of the mills.”
Conley is the sixth owner of the restaurant since it opened in 1927. To celebrate five years of their ownership, he and his business partner Greg Mitchell kept the restaurant open 24 hours for a single day in 2019.
One of the cooks cleans up after closing at the Palace Diner in Biddeford in June. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
“People really showed up,” Conley said. “I remember this one moment that was really special: At 3 in the morning, like three or four cops came in and (they said), ‘This is awesome that you guys are doing this, because we work at night, and we can’t come to your restaurant unless you’re open at 3 in the morning.”
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While Conley wishes he could do that every night, he understands that it’s not realistic.
“Maybe if we do it once every five years, we can fill the seats in the middle of the night, because people are willing to stay up for the novelty of it,” he said.
Dan Beck, the third-generation owner of Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, shared a similar experience. Late-night business was good when truckers used U.S. Route 1, but as Interstate 95 became the preferred route, the nighttime customer base dwindled. Eventually, in March 2000, Moody’s decided to end 24/7 service.
“I just think times change,” Beck said. “The main trucking route changed, the way goods are transported changes, so, the need for something like that wasn’t as great. And then you add the advent of 24-hour convenience stores where people can get a cup of coffee or a snack.”
Beck also says the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in a further reduction of late-night hours, which he said was typical of many restaurants along the Midcoast.
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LAST OPTIONS STANDING
So what are we left with? Not much. There are four 24/7 Burger Kings, all of them in southern Maine. Portland’s only Denny’s — the diner chain synonymous with late-night meals — closed its doors in 2022.
The 24/7 Burger King location at 375 Gorham Road in South Portland, one of four round-the-clock locations the burger chain has in Maine. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
Burger King’s South Portland location actually transitioned to 24/7 after the start of the pandemic, in 2021. The store’s general manager, Tracy Fairbrother, said rising sales since 2015 prompted the restaurant to keep extending its hours. She said she was inspired by the burger chain’s Forest Avenue location, which was already open around the clock.
“Just seeing them continue to grow and grow and grow made us realize, ‘Why don’t we try and steal from that pool a little bit?’” she said.
Fairbrother says lots of shift workers frequent the restaurant late at night. For those whose days are ending during the morning, she’s found that many don’t want breakfast food and would rather get a cheeseburger.
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She also believes being located in the Portland area plays a role in the move’s success, since more people means more potential customers.
Asked how the company felt about its apparent status as the last 24/7 restaurant standing in Maine, a Burger King corporate spokesperson responded: “We know that access to delicious meals for a great value is important to many Guests, and we’re glad to be able to provide a reliable option for those looking to enjoy Burger King whenever it’s most convenient for them.”
The all-night diner booth may be harder to find, but the lights are still on somewhere — even if these days, they’re glowing above a Burger King drive-thru.
A view into the kitchen at Palace Diner in Biddeford. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
I am amazed by the beauty and rich history of Maine. There is so much to be shared with all the people from away. The citizens of our special state work hard and know how to play hard in all the beautiful seasons: snow sports, camping, hiking, our immense wilderness, all of this must be shared with the world.
Think of Maine’s abundant natural resources, from blueberries, apples, potatoes, lobsters and wood products to the great shipbuilding legacy. Every Mainer, regardless of party affiliation, can agree on the things that set our state apart from others.
That’s why I was so dismayed that Maine was one of a few other states opting out of the Great American Fair, the event celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall.
As the only true political peers of Gov. Janet Mills, Sens. Collins and King and Reps. Pingree and Golden need to let Mills know that this was not a good thing to do to our state, our industries and our people.
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This arbitrary decision was shameful. There are times in life when we have to rise above the fray, take the high and right road and not let negative emotions drive our actions. This was a doable project if delegated to groups with interests on the line to plan, organize and secure funds for exhibition costs. What a missed opportunity for us here in Maine.
” data-image-caption=”<p>A sign above a Dysart’s Gas Station. Dysart’s Restaurant was the last 24/7 restaurant, that’s not a major chain, in the State of Maine. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
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Until 2019, Dysart’s Restaurant in Hermon was one of the last 24/7 restaurants that’s not a major chain in Maine. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
” data-image-caption=”<p>One of the cooks cleans up after closing at the Palace Diner. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
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One of the cooks cleans up after closing at the Palace Diner in Biddeford in June. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer) 100vw, 1024px”/><figcaption class=)
The 24/7 Burger King location at 375 Gorham Road in South Portland, one of four round-the-clock locations the burger chain has in Maine. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
” data-image-caption=”<p>A view into the kitchen at Palace Diner in Biddeford. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
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A view into the kitchen at Palace Diner in Biddeford. (Teddy Almond/Staff Writer)
