Maine
Who is raising the most money in the Maine governor’s race?
(Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)
Candidates vying to become Maine’s next governor have until midnight Tuesday to file campaign finance reports for the first quarter of the year.
The reports will show who is best positioned to control the message in the final month-plus until the primaries. But fundraising success doesn’t always guarantee a win at the ballot box.
The reports come as a growing number of leading candidates are taking to the airwaves a head of the June 9 primaries. Five Democrats and seven Republicans are vying to replace Gov. Janet Mills, who is term limited.
As of Tuesday, Republican Jonathan Bush topped all candidates in broadcast, cable and digital advertising, having booked nearly $1.5 million in ads through the primary, the political spending tracker AdImpact said.
But Republican Garrett Mason is benefitting from about $3 million in spending by Restoration of America PAC, which is running ads targeting Gov. Janet Mills and tying Mason to President Donald Trump.
Other Republican candidates running ads are Bobby Charles ($63,000), Owen McCarthy ($43,660) and Ben Midgely ($55,000.)
Hannah Pingree tops the Democratic slate with about $564,000 in ad spending, followed by Nirav Shah ($493,000), Shenna Bellows ($462,700) and Angus King III ($299,000.)
As of Tuesday afternoon, fundraising totals were only trickling in. Public access to those reports was hampered because the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Practices is building a new website, and glitches made some reports unviewable.
This story will be updated when more reports are filed. As of Tuesday afternoon:
- Republican Jonathan Bush reported raising about $845,000 in the first quarter, but 60% of that, $500,000, was a personal loan to his own campaign. His totals were not yet available through the new website, but his quarterly fundraising and spending was provided by ethics staff.
- Republican Robert Wessels was the only other active candidate that had filed. He raised nearly $11,600 for the quarter and has about $13,540 in cash.
This is a developing story.
Maine
Matt Dunlap wins primary in Maine’s 2nd District as Democrats seek to hang on to Jared Golden’s seat
Matt Dunlap won the Democratic primary in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District after three rounds of ranked-choice voting, the state’s Secretary of State’s office announced Friday.
Democrats are seeking to hang onto a seat in a district that President Trump won in the last three presidential elections. State Sen. Joe Baldacci led after the first two rounds of ranked–choice voting, but Dunlap overtook him after challengers Paige Loud and Jordan Wood were eliminated.
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate, is retiring after four terms. His decision not to run for reelection was a blow to Democrats’ efforts to retake the House majority.
In the 2024 election, Golden was one of 13 Democrats to win a House race in a district also won by Mr. Trump. Golden declined to endorse Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and has voted with Republicans on several issues, including measures to avert a shutdown and on reining in Mr. Trump’s war powers authority.
Dunlap, the state’s auditor, will face Republican Paul LePage in November’s general election. LePage is a former two-term governor who ran unopposed in the GOP primary. As of May 20, LePage had $1.2 million cash on hand while Dunlap had less than $100,000, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Dunlap’s win marks a defeat for House Democrats’ campaign arm. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee endorsed Joe Baldacci, a state senator, saying he “has never lost an election and has consistently overperformed Democrats up and down the ballot, including a 3-point overperformance of the presidential ticket in 2024.”
Baldacci was the runner–up, the Maine Secretary of State’s office said. The results were announced 10 days after voters went to the polls due to the ranked-choice tabulations.
KENNEBUNK, Maine (WGME) — A 4-year-old girl is recovering after firefighters say she nearly drowned in a hotel pool in Kennebunk.
It happened at the Hampton Inn Saturday at around 9:30 p.m.
Kennebunk Fire Rescue says it got a call for someone not breathing.
When first responders got there, they say they found a 4-year-old in cardiac arrest after almost drowning.
That girl was flown to a Portland hospital, and she remains in critical condition.
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The cause of the incident is unclear at this time.
A 4-year-old girl is in critical condition after being pulled from a hotel pool in Kennebunk, Maine, on Saturday morning.
The Kennebunk Fire Department said it was dispatched to the Hampton Inn, at 6 Independence Drive, around 9:30 a.m. for a child not breathing. Firefighters and EMS arrived on scene and found a 4-year-old girl who was in cardiac arrest after a near drowning incident in the hotel pool.
Immediate and extensive resuscitative efforts were provided on scene, according to the fire department. The girl was taken by ambulance to MaineHealth Biddeford and then flown by medical helicopter to MaineHealth Portland, where she was in critical condition.
The circumstances surrounding the incident were not immediately provided.
This incident is under review, the fire department added, noting that additional information is not being released at this time out of respect for the family’s privacy.
The fire department is also offering these pool and water safety tips for the summer season: “Protect Children – Phones Down Eyes Up.”
- Always actively supervise: designate a sober, attentive “water watcher” within arm’s reach of young children. No phones or distractions.
- Use barriers: ensure pools have four-sided fencing with self-closing, self-latching gates; keep doors and gates locked.
- Life jackets: young or inexperienced swimmers should wear U.S. Coast Guard–approved life vests near water.
- Swim lessons & skills: enroll children in age-appropriate swim lessons and teach basic water safety early.
- Know the environment: at hotels, check for lifeguards, pool depth markers, rules, and hazards; never assume someone else is watching.
- No diving in shallow water; no running or rough play near the pool.
- Remove toys from the pool when not in use—don’t leave items that attract children.
- Learn CPR: caregivers and hotel staff should be trained in infant/child CPR and rescue breathing. If someone is unresponsive and not breathing, call 911 immediately and begin CPR.
- Drain safety: keep hair, clothing, and body parts away from drains; teach older kids about the danger.
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