Maine
We asked Maine’s gubernatorial candidates how they’d fix the state’s housing crisis. Here’s what they said.
Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
Halting property taxes, deterring migrants and dedicating $100 million to fund construction are among the ideas Maine’s gubernatorial candidates have to improve the state’s housing market.
Most of the 16 people vying to be Maine’s next governor agree the state’s housing market is suffering due to high prices, limited availability and slow construction. But their plans for how they’d immediately improve that if elected vary drastically.
Many candidates’ ideas centered around the same general themes: build more units and hasten construction. Doing this, they believe, will lower prices and make it easier for Mainers to buy a home.
The state’s tight housing market has been a burden on many Mainers — and a focal point for voters — since the pandemic, during which home prices skyrocketed due to a rush of demand while inventory plummeted. Since then, more homes have become available but prices remain high, which keeps homeownership out of reach for many, especially first-time buyers.
Roughly a dozen candidates agreed local and state permitting processes and regulations should be reformed to speed up the building process and allow more projects to be approved. A statewide study completed in 2023 found the state has a dramatic housing shortage due to years of underproduction, which will take at least 76,400 new units by 2030 to solve.
Three Republican candidates — Ben Midgley, Owen McCarthy and Bobby Charles — proposed addressing “red tape” that’s holding back development as part of their plan. Two others, Republican Jonathan Bush and independent Richard Bennett, want to perform statewide audits to identify where and why housing development projects are stalling.
Democrat Hannah Pingree proposed directing $100 million in state funding annually to fuel construction and preserve existing affordable units.
Both Angus King III, a Democrat, and John Glowa, an independent, outlined plans to build 10,000 new units, which King wants to complete by the end of his first term. However, King believes the 10,000 new units should span income levels while Glowa wants all the units to be low income rental housing.
Two other candidates, democrat Troy Jackon and republican Robert Wessels, described groups they plan to form with the explicit goal of improving housing in Maine. Jackson’s Department of Housing Affordability would be tasked with “tackling the housing crisis with the speed, scale, and focus working families deserve.”
Wessels’ team, meanwhile, would “dig into our housing regulations and figure out what ones we need to keep.” Regulations the group deems unnecessary would be repealed or altered to “allow our homebuilders to do their job.”
A few candidates offered entirely unique ideas, such as Democrat Shenna Bellows, who proposed freezing property taxes for Mainers while doubling those for out-of-state owners.
Republican David Jones, meanwhile, said he wants to make housing and other welfare programs accessible to U.S. citizens only, thus deterring “migration from foreign nations to Maine.”
Find the answer each gubernatorial candidate provided below when asked the first thing they would do to improve the state’s housing market if sworn in. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
BANGOR (WGME) — A special ceremony was held outside the Cross Insurance Center Thursday to honor Maine Game Warden Joshua Tibbetts, who died in a plane crash last week.
During the ceremony, there was a fly over, firing salute and then the casket flag was folded and handed to Tibbetts’ mother, Barbara. Shortly after that, dispatch did an official sign off for Tibbetts.
Hundreds of police officers, not only just from Maine, but also from different parts of the East Coast, were there for the ceremony. They all lined up in front of the Cross Insurance Center as Tibbetts’ body was brought from the hearse to inside the arena, where the service took place.
“It was a great service,” Ernie Smith, who assisted on bagpipes and drums Thursday, said. “It’s good to see the turnout that there was today and how much our service members and safety people are honored by the state.”
“He just had a nice temperament to him,” coworker David Craven said. “He was liked in the agency. As we heard today, he loved his girls, his daughter and his family, and he was true blue Maine Game Warden.”
A special ceremony was held outside the Cross Insurance Center Thursday to honor Maine Game Warden Joshua Tibbetts, who died in a plane crash last week. (WGME)
As Tibbetts’ casket was brought inside Thursday morning, his family members were right by the entrance as game wardens carried the casket in. Those at the service say they hope Tibbetts is remembered by not only how dedicated he was to public service but how much he loved his family, especially his two daughters he now leaves behind.
ELLSWORTH, Maine (WVII) — An elected Maine official is being sanctioned for alleged ethics violations.
The Ellsworth City Council held a special meeting this week to discuss Councilor Steve O’Halloran, who is accused of bullying city staff.
Councilors met in executive session to hear a report from a third-party investigator who interviewed staff members.
Other councilors indicated O’Halloran may have violated city code. Some residents, however, disagree with the accusations.
“Steve O’Halloran has listened to the people for years now, and his constant reelection is a reflection of that,” said Ellsworth resident Tiffany Gasper. “What is happening and has happened feels more like retaliation because he constantly asks the tough questions.”
The report has not been made available to the public.
The meeting concluded with the council voting 5-1-1 to censure O’Halloran, with Councilor Patrick Shea voting against the measure and O’Halloran abstaining.
Memorial Day weekend is expected to be mostly fair, with Saturday looking the driest.
Highs are likely to be in the high 50s and 60s across much of the state this weekend, according to the National Weather Service — a break from the recent, and in some cases record-breaking heat.
However, there is a chance of rain in the latter half, according to the weather service, and it may be best to pack that extra layer: Lows will likely dip into the 40s and even 30s in some areas.
Authorities are also reminding Mainers and Vacationlanders alike to take extra precautions out on Maine’s many bodies of water as air temperatures at this time of year are often far higher than water temperatures.
THE HIGHS
The weather service’s office in Gray projects high temperatures to hover in the 60s Friday and Saturday across the southern and central regions.
The Augusta, Fryeburg and Waterville areas can expect high temperatures in the mid-to-high 60s to kick off the weekend, the agency projected Wednesday, while the Portland and Lewiston areas can expect temperatures in the lower 60s.
High temperatures in much of the southern half of the state will dip to the low 60s and high 50s Sunday, the agency forecast.
“High pressure is coming down from Canada,” Jon Palmer, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Gray, explained on Wednesday. “It’s going to sit over the area through Sunday and even potentially into Monday.”
Meanwhile, high temperatures in northern and eastern Maine are projected to be in the high 50s or low 60s Saturday before taking a small dip on Sunday, according to the weather service’s office in Caribou.
THE LOWS
On the other side of that high-pressure system is rain, but the likelihood varies by location.
James Sinko, lead meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Caribou, said Wednesday that the Bangor, Downeast and Moosehead Lake regions can expect some showers Sunday afternoon, with more widespread showers in northern and eastern Maine on Monday.
As of Wednesday, the weather service in Gray projects that southern regions stand about a 40% to 50% chance of seeing rain Sunday, with significantly lower chances Monday.
Palmer warned that the timing all depends on when the high-pressure system departs, but any rain should be light regardless.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll have the heat to produce convective thunderstorms or anything like that,” he said.
Temperatures will cool off in the evenings and early mornings across Maine throughout the weekend. While the southern half of the state can expect low temperatures in the low 40s (with higher elevations a bit chillier), northern Maine is expecting lows in the 30s, according to the weather service.
WATER SAFETY
Sinko noted that Maine has already lost several people who were recreating on the water this season.
“A lot of water temperatures are generally in the 40s to 50s, and it only takes a couple of minutes to get hypothermia,” the meteorologist said. “You can succumb to your body shutting down in the water.”
That makes it an especially important time to wear a life preserver and make sure other safety equipment is readily available. The agency is conducting a joint effort with state authorities to warn the public of the hazards, Sink said.
“We want to emphasize cold water safety, and have people know everything they need to survive going into cold waters,” Sinko said.
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