PORTLAND (WGME) — It’s now a three-way race for the Blaine House.

After more than a week, the ranked choice tabulation was run very early Friday morning, with Hannah Pingree declared the winner for the Democrats, and Bobby Charles the winner for Republicans.

Moving forward, Independent Rick Bennett is also in the governor’s race.

As a moderate, Bennett could draw votes from both parties.

If Friday is any indication, the next four and a half months will be contentious, with the three candidates pointing fingers at each other.

Charles criticized ranked choice voting and says if elected, he will end it.

“Maine voters deserve to know the results of their elections on the day that they cast their vote,” Charles said.

Pingree disagrees, saying election officials made sure every vote counted.

“Maine’s election officials did their job, and they did it right,” Pingree said.

The two nominees traded jabs Friday.

“The Democrats have just nominated an insider,” Charles said. “A deep Augusta insider.”

Republican candidate for governor Bobby Charles (WGME)

It was Charles’ own primary opponents who labeled him a Washington insider.

“I will say it’s ironic that Bobby Charles is talking about positive change,” Pingree said.

Then there’s State Senator and former head of the Maine Republican Party Rick Bennett, running as an Independent.

Charles calls him a Democrat.

Pingree calls him a Republican.

“I think the choice here is clear,” Bennett said. “We have Hannah Pingree, who I respect, but she’s a continuation of the Mills administration. She was in charge of housing policy. We still have a housing crisis. Bobby Charles, as you know, has spent most of his life in the bureaucracy in Washington and then lobbying for corporate interests in Washington. Maine people are tired of a political system that puts the parties first and results second.”

Independent candidate for governor Rick Bennett (WGME)

Charles says he wants to bring integrity to the State House.

“You either want change, integrity, lower taxes, the drug traffickers out of here, the needles out of here, the energy costs down,” Charles said. “No more fraud. I am sick and tired of all the things we’re putting up with. In my view, a betrayal of trust and a betrayal of integrity.”

Pingree says Congressional Republicans and the President are the ones making life difficult for Maine families.

“This is about healthcare that we can afford, whether you’re in a rural hospital in Houlton or urgent care in Portland. It is about Maine’s potential,” Pingree said. “A real future for our kids and the people who are working all across Maine just to get by. It’s also about continuing to stand up to Donald Trump. His attacks, his wars, his economic chaos that is making life harder for every single Mainer every single day.”

As an Independent, Bennett did not have to compete in a primary.

Also, unlike the primary, there is no ranked choice in the general election for state races, so no ranked choice this fall in the governor’s race.

Just as the summer travel season heats up, gas prices are finally dropping, with the national average falling below $4 a gallon.

It marks the first time since March 30 prices are that low, and follows nearly four straight weeks of declines, according to data from AAA.

Massachusetts and the northeast as a whole are still above that average, at $4.09 a gallon, but it’s down sharply just in the past week.

Prices are lower south of Boston, such as in Bristol and Plymouth counties, and some wholesale clubs are selling at $3.60 a gallon.

Mark Schieldrop, spokesperson for AAA Northeast, says the highest price paid at the pump in Massachusetts during the war was $4.50 a gallon.

Schieldrop said the decrease comes on the heels of the U.S. agreement with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, causing crude oil prices to fall.

“We’ve seen a nice steady decline in prices that really started more than three weeks ago,” he said, “Markets anticipated this happening, and that really led to prices beginning to fall.”

Since prices can vary, he recommends drivers shop around and avoid convenient locations.

“You are going to see those higher gas prices right off that highway exit at that first gas station that you see, because they know that they’re going to catch a lot of stray travelers,” he said.

Decreasing gas prices comes as millions of Americans prepare to travel for July 4 in record numbers starting next weekend.

“When prices are on a downward trajectory, that certainly is conducive to encouraging folks to travel,” Schieldrop said. “We do expect strong travel over the July Fourth holiday. And people are still very interested in travel.”

While gas station owners are sometimes accused of price gouging, Schieldrop said most are trying to navigate a volatile market themselves, and are looking to stay competitive when prices drop and they have a surplus.

“They have to be very careful about sort of using a price buffer to ride that volatility so that way you’re able to make money, but you’re not gouging customers, and you’re being competitive in a market because the retail gasoline market is very competitive, ”he said.

Prices a year ago were $3.05 a gallon, but he said we won’t be getting anywhere near those prices this summer.

A transgender former New Hampshire state representative will spend more than three decades in federal prison after admitting to receiving nude photos of children at a Massachusetts daycare.

Stacie Marie Laughton, 41, of Nashua was sentenced to more than 33 years behind bars after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of children, according to a report from local outlet WCVB. 

Laughton received the explicit images from his former intimate partner, Lindsay Groves, 40, of Hudson, New Hampshire, who was sentenced earlier this month to 22 years in prison, according to the report.

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Groves, who previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography, was employed at the Creative Minds daycare in neighboring Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Authorities said that between May 2022 and June 2023, Groves took multiple photos of prepubescent children in a private bathroom during routine diaper and pull-up changes prior to nap time. 

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Groves then sent the photos to Laughton via text message, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A forensic review of Laughton and Groves’ cellphones uncovered more than 10,000 text messages sent between the two over a one-month period in 2023.

Court documents revealed the messages included discussions about and transfers of explicit images of children, including victims as young as 3 to 5 years old.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed all the children in the case were identified, and their families were contacted by law enforcement.

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Hillsborough County jail officials confirmed to NH Journal that Laughton has been housed in the male population.

Creative Minds Early Learning Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.