The field of 12 includes several seasoned politicians fresh off primary campaigns for governor or Congress but also about a half-dozen lesser-known Mainers who are hoping to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins this November.

While Republican turnout was strong compared to most years, it fell well short of the Democrats’ get-out-the-vote effort, suggesting the GOP may have to overcome a marked enthusiasm gap headed into the fall.

While public polling in the contest has been scarce, Bobby Charles has drawn the most scrutiny from his rivals.

With the primary elections just a month away, the five Democrats running for Maine governor are each working to distinguish themselves in a race that’s been both issue-oriented and remarkably civil, at least so far.

This week, Mills, who's been trailing Platner in publicly available polling, launched an attack ad that leans heavily on one of her strengths to try to expose a potential weakness in her opponent’s resilient candidacy: women voters.

The fight for the House District 94 seat in Lewiston is a preview of — or perhaps an early skirmish in — this fall’s larger battle between the parties for state houses in Maine and across the country.

The prospects of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement in Maine’s two largest cities elicited strong responses from state and local elected leaders that — not surprisingly — fell largely along partisan lines. Plus the 2026 money race and Platner gets personal.

The past year delivered a lot of big surprises and Rep. Jared Golden's sudden decision to abandon his reelection bid was among them. Maine Public chief politics correspondent Steve Mistler and fellow politics correspondent Kevin Miller recently sat down with Rep. Jared Golden for a lengthy conversation about the factors that led to his decision.During the conversation, he spoke about the warring factions within the Democratic Party; how some Democrats refuse to recognize the electoral realities of the 2nd Congressional District that he represents; and yes, about that infamous column he wrote before the 2024 election that made so many Democrats angry. He also had a few things to say about why he drew a primary challenger this year from former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

AdImpact, an organization tracking political ads, estimates the Maine Senate contest could help draw more than $300 million in spending on congressional races in the state next year. That’s nearly a third more than the record-smashing amount spent in 2020 when Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins secured her fifth term.

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is over. But with little to show for it, the mostly Democratic politicians who ended the standoff now face intense backlash.