2026 Governor Primary Election Guide
2026 is a critical election year for both our state and our nation. While there are a lot of important issues to consider, the Urbanist Coalition focuses on housing, transportation, and making great cities. Our voter guide is designed to help inform voters about where candidates stand on these issues. We sent candidates a brief survey and we reviewed their “Issue” pages to build our guide.
We are encouraged that housing was a major theme of this election cycle. Our nation is in a housing crisis and people are struggling to afford this basic need. Maine is in desperate need of more homes and most of the candidates acknowledge that. For the Urbanist Coalition a big part of the solution is lowering barriers to building more housing in areas where we already have the infrastructure and jobs.
Another major theme is property taxes. It is unsurprising that we have both a shortage of homes and higher property taxes than other states. Building more homes grows the tax base which spreads out this cost among more people. Maintaining suburban sprawl means each home will need more infrastructure like roads and sewer lines with fewer people to pay for them, which drives up property taxes. We were discouraged that for the most part the solutions candidates put forward were either incomplete, unrealistic, would lead to inequitable outcomes, or would disincentivize building more housing.
One issue we would love to see more from candidates on is transportation. The Maine Department of Transportation makes key transportation decisions that impact our cities and towns and for the most part those decisions have prioritized cars over other modes of transportation like buses, trains, bikes, and walking.
Democrat Candidates
| Candidate | Housing | Transportation | Property Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shenna Bellows✓ Responded | ▲ | 🏅 | ⛔ |
| Troy Dale Jackson | ✅ | ? | ▲ |
| Angus King III | ✅ | ? | ✅ |
| Hannah Pingree✓ Responded | 🏅 | ▲ | ▲ |
| Nirav Shah✓ Responded | 🏅 | ✅ | ▲ |
Shenna Bellows: We love Shenna Bellows’ strong commitment to treating cycling and pedestrian infrastructure as first-class priorities at the Maine DOT. While we think growing Maine’s construction workforce and spending public dollars on building housing are important we would have liked to see at least some focus on lifting some of the zoning and permitting barriers to building more housing. Shenna Bellows is also proposing a property tax freeze funded by a tax on out of state home owners. While we are not opposed to taxing second homes in principle we feel it is unlikely that this will pay for a blanket property tax freeze. The only state to try a similar blanket freeze is California’s with its Prop 13 which has created challenges for municipal budgets and led to inequitable outcomes where people pay very different property taxes on similar property irrespective of wealth or income.
Troy Dale Jackson: We like that Troy Jackson emphasizes the need to build new homes and we particularly like his mention of a state appeals board to prevent projects from being held up. His property tax relief proposal is a tax on second homes to fund property tax relief. He specifies that the goal is to help towns maintain municipal services and provide more targeted relief; this may give the state enough flexibility to implement something realistic and equitable.
Angus King III: We like that Angus King III seems committed to building more homes and we particularly like his focus on reviewing zoning codes and improving construction timelines. We would like to see a bit more information about how some of this will be implemented, and we have some concerns about his emphasis on towns deciding where and how housing should be built. Angus King III is the only candidate to emphasize that building more homes can relieve the burden of property taxes.
Hannah Pinegree: We love Hanna Pingree’s detailed housing plan. We particularly like her proposals for a maximum time for permit reviews and improving state building code. Hannah Pinegree was also instrumental in drafting the proposals that became LD2003. This was a significant step forward for housing in both our city and our state. Her property tax reform proposal of expanding the property tax fairness credit and homestead exemptions ensures the state has the matching funds for municipalities. We feel this makes it somewhat more realistic and with fewer unintended consequences than other proposals. We like that she touched on the important relationship between housing and transportation in her transportation answer but we would have liked to see a bit more details on the relationship between walking, biking, buses, trains, and cars.
Nirav Shah: We love Nirav Shah’s strong vision for tackling the housing crisis with dense, walkable, downtowns and missing middle housing. We particularly like that he proposes tying infrastructure funding to housing production and how he understands that many issues are entangled. In addition to a multi-pronged strategy for building new housing, Shah’s platform has economic and sociological angles; these proposals reinforce each other and are entirely consistent with our vision for urban centers in Maine. His tax property tax proposal of a “targeted millionaire's tax”, with revenue specifically redirected to local budgets, and an expansion to the Homestead Exemption for property taxes may give the state enough flexibility to implement something realistic and equitable. We like that he suggested improving pedestrian safety and cohesive planning between bike paths, sidewalks, and traffic lanes.
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1. What kind of housing should Maine be building? Where? What steps will you take to enable or encourage that?
Maine is facing a housing crisis — we're short an estimated 80,000 units, and one in six homes in our state sits empty most of the year as a vacation house while year-round residents can't find a place to live. There’s no one size fits all solution- we need to build all kinds of housing, in all corners of the state. What works in Portland might not work in Presque Isle, which is why we need to attack this problem from every angle. We need workforce housing, community-based senior housing, and innovative housing for young people.
I'll expand the state housing fund to support both new construction and rehabilitation of existing homes, and I'll create a Maine Housing Corps — modeled after AmeriCorps and the PeaceCorps, which I served in — that pays Mainers to train in the trades and get to work building homes. We need more builders, and we need to grow them here in Maine. To make the homes we have more affordable, I'll make sure the First Home Loan Program never runs out of money again, and I'll expand it so the state can actually provide down payments for first-time home buyers. And I'll fight to freeze property taxes on Maine residents, paid for by doubling taxes on out-of-staters who have gobbled up our property, making the housing crisis. If they don't like it, they can make Maine their permanent residence. If the courts push back, I'll push for a constitutional amendment, because Mainers who live here year-round deserve to stay in their homes.
2. How can the office/body/agency you’re running for improve the relationships between public transit, bike-ped infrastructure, and automobile traffic engineering?
As governor, I'll direct MaineDOT to treat biking, public transit and pedestrian-friendly options as first-class priorities, not afterthoughts. Maine's cities like Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor need transit that actually connects people to jobs, and our streets need to be safe for people who walk or bike. But public transportation can’t just be about connecting people in our urban communities. Particularly as Mainers age, we need to create safe ways for not just seniors, but others who might not be able to drive and for additional cost savings. As we’ve seen soaring gas prices hurting Mainers, we need to find new ways to make transportation more cost efficient for everyone. I've spent my career building coalitions across party lines, and I know that investing in multimodal transportation — the kind that reduces car dependence and lowers household transportation costs — is something that resonates across rural and urban Maine alike.
3. Are there changes you’d advocate for to revenue systems for Maine and Maine’s towns? Are there systemic changes you’d like to see to state or municipal expenditures?
Our tax system is rigged in favor of the wealthy and out-of-state interests, and I'm going to change that. I'll implement a millionaire's tax which will raise over $200 million a year without touching the taxes of ordinary Mainers who are already struggling. And I'll double property taxes on vacation homes owned by non-residents to fund a freeze on property taxes for the people who actually live here. But right now municipalities are funding things like schools, police, and housing, on property taxes– one of the most regressive taxes there is. And it’s pitting our neighbors against progress. The state needs to step up to adequately fund schools, counties and municipalities. In the state senate, I fought successfully for increases in revenue sharing, but it’s not enough. As governor, my budgets will deliver for our schools, healthcare and communities. We also need to give municipalities more tools to raise revenue that feels right to them and to the voters who live there. That’s why I support the right for municipalities to have a local option tax.4. What other policies do you advocate for that you’d expect to affect life in Maine’s cities?
My economic New Deal for Maine will support every Mainer including those living in our cities because we’re in the middle of an affordability crisis. Young people can’t find a place to live. Young families can’t have the children they want because they can’t afford healthcare or childcare. Seniors are choosing between medicine and paying the light bill. My plan will support small businesses and startups, fund universal healthcare access and support renters and first-time homebuyers. I'll go big on clean energy — not through tax credit programs that require people to pay first and wait for a reimbursement, but by having the state directly install solar panels and heat pumps for families who receive heating assistance. I'll cap utility company profits at 6%, because no one should have a to choose between heating their home and feeding their family. I’ll raise teacher pay, fight for childcare for all, and freeze property taxes to make life easier. I've been a lifelong champion of LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive healthcare, and immigrant rights — and as governor I will defend those rights fiercely, because every person in Maine's cities deserves to live with dignity and safety. And I'll require police to identify themselves, because accountability and community trust go hand in hand. I know what it's like to struggle, and I'll never forget it. Finally, I’ll fight to protect democracy no matter what - just as I have as Secretary of State.
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1. What kind of housing should Maine be building? Where? What steps will you take to enable or encourage that?
Access to housing that is affordable - all across Maine - is fundamental to Maine’s future. We need every kind of housing to meet the urgent demand - and ensure that young families can afford to buy a home or find an affordable rent, but also to ensure that seniors can downsize and to stem the tide of rising homelessness.
Housing affordability has been one of the main policy priorities of my campaign since day one. I announced I was running for governor at a newly completed housing apartment complex in Rockland and embarked on a 20-stop statewide tour to bring together renters, homeowners, builders, developers, municipal and business leaders, and housing advocates to listen, talk about challenges, hear about innovative housing projects, and drive real solutions to Maine’s housing crisis.
As Speaker, I championed one of the first sources of long-term, sustainable funding for new housing production. After leaving office, I directed a community-based housing organization that expanded homeownership opportunities, developed rental housing, and provided weatherization support for local families in my community.
As Director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF), I led the effort to secure the largest pipeline of funding for affordable housing production in state history, including funds for rural rentals, affordable homeownership, mobile home park preservation, opportunities for veterans and seniors, homelessness prevention, and home weatherization. I served on the commission that recommended LD 2003 and many of the now implemented policies, and I helped partner with Speaker Ryan Fecteau to pass the State Housing Tax Credit. My team also developed the state’s funding and development plan for the Housing First program for Maine, now called Home for Good.
My leadership has always been about pressing for solutions, including overseeing the creation of two key state reports: the 2023 Housing Production Needs Summary that declared Maine is short about 84,000 homes, and the 2025 Housing Production Roadmap, that provided detailed recommendations to the Legislature for addressing the state’s housing challenges.
This push to find solutions and deliver results is a part of my campaign, too. After meeting with hundreds of Mainers in their communities, I was the first candidate in the race to release a comprehensive Housing Affordability Plan. As governor, I pledge to:
Invest $100 Million a Year in Housing: Provide consistent funding for the development and preservation of homes across Maine that are affordable and attainable.
Take on Private Equity and Corporate Greed: Stop out-of-state corporations from displacing families from existing homes and driving up rents.
Accelerate Permit Approvals, Cut Red Tape, and Reduce Barriers to New Housing: Streamline and simplify state and local permit approvals and support land use reforms that allow homes to be built faster, smarter, and more predictably.
Grow the Workforce and Industries that Build Our Homes: Invest in apprenticeships, training programs, business supports, and tuition-free community college to ensure Maine has the skilled workers, materials, and businesses to build the housing we need.
Reduce Evictions and Address Rising Homelessness in Maine: Expand permanent housing solutions for Maine’s most vulnerable residents and invest in efforts to help households avoid evictions.
Maine needs these bold strategies to rapidly build new units, protect existing units, lower construction costs, and grow good-paying jobs. Predictable, ongoing state investments must support affordable rentals and home ownership opportunities, while also better utilizing vacant, historic and commercial properties, and USDA foreclosure properties that are currently sitting empty. Keeping Mainers housed also requires weatherization, repair programs, eviction prevention, and more support for mobile home park resident co-ops.
Partnership with communities to modernize zoning and streamline permitting will speed the pace of housing development. And Maine must increase its support for the trades and construction workforce through training, apprenticeships, and partnerships with unions and businesses.
As governor, I will work every day to expand housing options, protect affordability, and ensure that every Mainer has a place to live with dignity and security.
With Maine companies already producing lumber, insulation, windows, and whole homes — and as the nation’s most forested state — we should lead the nation in innovative wood products for home construction, growing good-paying jobs, and a stronger rural economy in the process.
2. How can the the governor's office improve the relationships between public transit, bike-ped infrastructure, and automobile traffic engineering?
Through the Maine Climate Council process, I have strongly supported housing development that reduces transportation emissions, encourages walkability of communities, and increases the ability for diverse communities to find quality housing they can afford. I’ve helped communities and state agencies implement local projects that meet these goals - from transit planning to community grant programs.
I also guided the launch of the Maine Office of Community Affairs, a new state agency that brings together partners across state government and beyond to help our communities tackle these types of challenges and find solutions. Communities are now getting expertise, assistance, and connections to funding to help them grow sustainably in ways that meet local needs while aligning with broader regional and state goals.
3. Are there changes you advocate for to revenue systems for Maine and Maine’s towns? Are there systemic changes you’d like to see to state or municipal expenditures?
I support full funding (5%) of state sales tax revenue going back to our communities through municipal revenue sharing. I hear often on the campaign trail about property tax hikes, and have heard from municipal leaders struggling to meet multiple budget needs. I am concerned about a variety of competing factors - from increasing home valuations, county demands to urgent municipal infrastructure needs have created difficult decisions at the local level, and public pushback.
I believe that many of our municipal and regional governments lack tools to proactively address these issues on their own. I think greater state partnership is needed to solve these challenges - from allowing targeted local option taxes (with some revenue sharing with rural communities) and implementing non-resident second home taxes to increasing the regional collaboration and responsibilities of some burdens, like homeless services and planning. I think the state, regional governments and municipalities can and should collaborate on more regional solutions that will improve services, increase efficiency, infrastructure needs, support better pay and benefits for workers, and better manage costs for taxpayers.
4. What other policies do you advocate for that you’d expect to affect life in Maine’s cities?
For nearly 25 years, I’ve been a champion for Maine people—leading successful efforts to expand health care coverage, protect our environment, take bold climate action, invest in infrastructure, strengthen housing and education, grow our economy through innovation and workforce training, and safeguard our democracy. Serving as the Speaker of the House, serving on my local school board, and leading the state’s “Office of the Future,” I’ve had the opportunity to bring people and communities together to deliver results.
In this race for Governor, I’ve outlined a vision built around three urgent priorities that reflect both the affordability challenges families face and the need to stand strong against Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda, while still charting a hopeful path forward for Maine’s future:
Housing that is affordable for all Mainers—so young families can put down roots in the communities where they grew up, seniors can stay in their homes, and we can meet the workforce needs of our economy.
Accessible, affordable health care that is easy to navigate no matter where you live and focuses on improving the health of Mainers, and is strong enough to withstand relentless attacks and cuts from the Trump Administration. From access to reproductive health care to basic primary care, our health care system needs urgent intervention. My health care plan includes the creation of a public health insurance option, investments in primary care, and shoring up community health.
Affordability and economic opportunity in every community—so families can manage rising costs, workers and businesses can thrive, kids have great child care and public schools, communities have the resources they need to care for their neighbors, and we’re prepared for the storms ahead. That means tackling housing and energy bills, making health care and childcare accessible, tackling the climate crisis, and restructuring Maine’s tax system so the wealthiest pay more and families can afford property taxes.
Our campaign has put out comprehensive plans around both Affordability and Economic Opportunity. And I have a 25 year record of service and accomplishments to show that I not only understand complex policy but I also know how to deliver real change.
From fighting climate change and helping cities and towns prepare, to investing in innovation, good paying jobs, quality schools and child care access, to transportation solutions - I understand that communities need a great partner in the state to help their people and communities succeed. In a time of rising costs, property tax burdens that are becoming too much for some communities and federal uncertainty, that partnership is more important than ever.
Lastly, caring for our neighbors has taken on a new level of importance in the time of Donald Trump. From protecting our immigrant neighbors to safeguarding voting rights to standing up for reproductive rights, Governors are on the front lines of protecting our people. I’ve led the fight on many of these issues for years. As the lead co-sponsor of marriage equity in 2009, leading the effort to create the Office of New Americans, to enacting improvements to voting access and ballot protections as a young legislator, I’ve been in the trenches on these issues for decades and am ready to fight to protect Maine people and their rights in this important time.
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1. What kind of housing should Maine be building? Where? What steps will you take to enable or encourage that?
We don’t just have a housing shortage in Maine, we have a full-blown housing crisis. The cost of housing has gone up so much that the average family in Maine can’t afford the average home.
We need to build more homes, at scale: workforce housing, affordable housing, ADUs. Homes that young families, seniors, and working people can actually afford.
Just as important as what we build is where we build it. We should focus on smart, thoughtful density in the places that already make sense like our downtown centers that are already near jobs and existing infrastructure. To do so, we also need to reimagine underused spaces like vacant parking lots and underutilized parcels so that we can add housing without paving over the forests, farmland, and coastline that define Maine.
Finally, we have to make sure Mainers actually benefit from the homes we build. That means exploring policies like a right of first refusal so new homes are first offered to Mainers and not institutional investors from out of state. It also means cutting red tape, streamlining permitting, strengthening our construction workforce, and partnering with municipalities to move projects forward faster.
2. How can the governor's office improve the relationships between public transit, bike-ped infrastructure, and automobile traffic engineering?
If we want a transportation system that actually works for Mainers, we have to treat it as one connected system. Too often, bike paths, sidewalks and traffic lanes are designed in silos. What we see as a result is what’s currently up for consideration in Portland, written about in this recent article from the Portland Press Herald: “How a dangerous Portland intersection is sparking debate about pedestrian safety.”
We know that when we design for people, for walkability, downtowns thrive. If we view infrastructure as the bones of a city’s body, we recognize that public transit, bike lanes, safe sidewalks, and smarter traffic engineering is what strengthens local economies, reduces social isolation, and lays a strong framework for towns that people want to stay in and move to.
3. Are there changes you advocate for to revenue systems for Maine and Maine’s towns? Are there systemic changes you’d like to see to state or municipal expenditures?
We have to start by easing the pressure on Mainers where they’re feeling it most and that’s property taxes. The approach I laid out a few weeks back is targeted and accountable: a tax on incomes over $1 million, with every dollar dedicated specifically to reducing property taxes, paired with a meaningful expansion of the Homestead Exemption so year-round Maine residents see real relief.
We also need to broaden how we think about public investment and what actually drives strong local economies. I’ve proposed a Community Gathering Places Grant Program to help towns invest in the spaces that bring people together and to recognize these “third places” as essential infrastructure. That means aligning our economic development strategy so we’re not just funding big projects, but also supporting small businesses, reducing regulatory barriers, and expanding access to capital in the sectors that keep downtowns alive.
4. What other policies do you advocate for that you’d expect to affect life in Maine’s Cities?
In Maine’s cities, clean drinking water and environmental safety are foundational to whether communities can grow. We should treat PFAS contamination as the public health emergency it is. At the same time, we should expand statewide PFAS testing for private wells and public systems and hold polluters accountable so cleanup is funded at the source, not by Maine Families.
Energy affordability is just as central. I’ve put forward a plan which focuses on modernizing Maine’s electric grid, accelerating clean energy like offshore wind, and reducing dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets that drive up electricity and heating costs. The plan also ensures large energy users don’t shift costs onto households, while investing in efficiency and a clean energy economy that lowers long-term bills and strengthens Maine’s workforce.
Finally, as cities grow, climate resilience has to be built into every investment decision. Maine’s urban cores are increasingly exposed to flooding, stronger storms, and infrastructure stress that threaten housing, public transit, and working waterfronts. In my recently released environmental plan, I call for expanding local resilience planning, modernizing infrastructure like stormwater systems, roads, and bridges, and strengthening emergency preparedness and recovery capacity. We also have to protect drinking water systems from flooding and saltwater intrusion while prioritizing vulnerable communities in planning and investment.
Republican Candidates
| Candidate | Housing | Transportation | Property Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Bush | ▲ | ? | ? |
| Bobby Charles | ? | ? | ⛔ |
| David Jones | ▲ | ? | ⛔ |
| Garrett Mason | ? | ? | ? |
| Owen McCarthy | ✅ | ? | ⛔ |
| Ben Midgley | ? | ? | ? |
| Robert J. Wessels | ? | ? | ? |
Jonathan Bush: We like that Jonathan Bush aims to make Maine the “easiest place in America to build more homes” but we want to see more specific policy proposals about his plan to make that happen.
Bobby Charles: Bobby Charles did not discuss housing policy at any length on his issues page. He does have some property tax proposals that are mostly around spending cuts though we are concerned about one of his proposals for rebalancing the state property tax reimbursement formula might structurally fund cities less because they tend to provide regional amenities to the surrounding towns.
David Jones: We like that David Jones mentions lifting a few regulatory barriers to building homes but the proposals were somewhat limited in scope. His more ambitious goal is to eliminate property taxes., which we feel is unrealistic and inadvisable. States like Florida where this has been examined found they would need a sales tax in excess of 20% to pay for it.
Owen McCarthy: Though we don’t support all of his housing proposals, we like a lot of his specific proposals to make it easier to build housing, especially making it easier to do subdivisions and allowing 3rd party permitting review. However, his proposal to freeze property taxes for seniors is inadvisable.
