Former state health official Dr. Nirav Shah, best known for leading the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention through the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday that he is running for governor of Maine as a Democrat.
Shah, who also held a role with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Biden administration before returning to his home state, said he believed Maine “is at a crossroads” and that the state needs “a governor with proven leadership experience who is ready to tackle our challenges head-on.”
Shah’s campaign pitch emphasizes his record in managing large-scale public health efforts, including overseeing multi-billion-dollar budgets and directing an agency during an unprecedented health crisis. This argument does not appear to take into account the reasons he left a public health role in the state of Illinois, which is addressed in a separate op-ed The Maine Wire is running today.
In his announcement, Shah highlighted some of the issues he would focus on as governor: rising cost of living, housing affordability, a lagging economy and stress on rural health care systems.
In addition to his public health roles, he has worked as an attorney and economist.
Shah enters a competitive Democratic primary. Other Democratic candidates include Shenna Bellows, Maine’s secretary of state; Hannah Pingree, a former state lawmaker and advisor to Governor Mills; Angus King III, an alternative energy executive and son of the state’s junior U.S. senator; and Troy Jackson, a former Senate president.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, at least eight candidates have already declared, including Jonathan Bush, cousin of former President George W. Bush.
