Health care entrepreneur Jonathan Bush is expected to jump into the 2026 Maine governor’s race Wednesday in Belfast a move that could upend both parties’ contests amid a swirl of controversy surrounding the state’s top election official – also Democrat candidate for the state’s top job.
Bush, a Republican and cousin of former President George W. Bush, has been positioning himself for a run since summer. The Belfast event, which has been promoted as a “major announcement,” is expected to serve as his formal announcement.
In recent months, Bush has hosted a podcast entitled ‘Maine for Keeps’ on which he discussed major issues facing the state.
If he throws his hat in the ring, Bush would join a GOP field that already includes state Sen. Jim Libby, attorney Bobby Charles, entrepreneur Owen McCarthy, real estate executive David Jones, business leader Ben Midgley, veteran Steven Sheppard, retired CPA Ken Capron and former South Paris selectman Robert Wessels.
On the Democratic side, the primary is shaping up as a crowded and competitive field. Among the other declared or prominent Democrat candidates are Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Senate President Troy Jackson, former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, and Angus King III, a renewable energy executive and son of U.S. Sen. Angus King.
Two independent candidates are also running so far — State Senator Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) and former state senator Ed Crockett (D).
The campaign is now facing an added layer of tension thanks to an alleged ballot mishandling scandal tied to Bellows Secretary of State office. Officials are investigating claims that 250 Maine ballots were mistakenly shipped to a private residence in Newburgh in an Amazon box wrapped in plastic and found alongside household items.
Bellows says she immediately launched an in house investigation and involved law enforcement once the issue came to light. Yet, when Bellows had the opportunity to speak on the issue on Thursday at a campaign event, she refused.
The saga adds a fraught dimension to Bellows’ candidacy. Her prior high profile decision to disqualify then former President Donald Trump from Maine’s Republican presidential primary invoking the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment was later trounced by the U.S. Supreme Court, but it nonetheless thrust her into the national spotlight and opened her to political attack.
Meanwhile, the looming launch by Bush, with name recognition, resources, and a potentially new narrative, could shake the balance in a state where no clear front-runner has yet emerged.
Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is term-limited and unable to seek reelection, ensuring both parties will fight hard for the open seat.
Bush’s Belfast event is expected to clarify whether he steps fully into the race and, if so, how he plans to navigate Maine’s shifting political terrain and a Democratic field already grappling with internal fault lines and election controversies.
