Hannah Pingree ’98 defeated Republican nominee Bobby Charles and Independent Maine State Sen. Rick Bennett (I-Oxford) in the Maine gubernatorial election, the Associated Press called late Tuesday night.
Pingree was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2002, at 26 years old. In 2008, she became the youngest woman in U.S. history to serve as a state House speaker, and the second woman to hold the position in Maine. After leaving the legislature in 2010, Pingree worked as business manager for a lodge and farm in North Haven, the island where she grew up, and as campaign director for a local housing nonprofit.
In 2019, Gov. Janet Mills tapped her to run the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, which she led until 2025 when she announced her plan to run for governor.
Her time at Brown gave her “the confidence to figure out how to get things done,” Pingree told The Herald in a 2025 interview. She added that her time on College Hill taught her how to “engage with all kinds of people.”
Pingree’s campaign focused on affordability, from housing costs to grocery prices. She has campaigned on expanding access to childcare, growing economic opportunity, supporting public education and protecting the state’s environment.
Pingree has also been outspoken against the Trump administration. After President Donald Trump said “Maine is bad” while discussing alleged fraud in the state in September, Pingree responded at a Labor Day event in Portland, Maine. “We are great. We don’t need to be made great again,” she said.
In June, Pingree won the Democratic nomination for governor over four other candidates after a five-day rank-choice tabulation, overtaking former Maine Center for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah, who had led in first-choice votes.
Pingree gave her victory speech at the Maine Democrats’ election night party in Portland, joined on stage by her husband and two children. She congratulated her mother, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), who won a 10th term representing Maine’s 1st Congressional District.
“I know this has been a hard and ugly year in politics. So many people are anxious about what’s happening in Washington and what comes next,” she said. “But I want you to hear me say this: You were right to care so much. Your worry was never wasted. Tonight we turned our worry into something big and important, all across this country — not just for Maine — but for all of us.’”
Rebecca Goodman is an arts & culture and university news editor covering career and alumni. She is a senior from Cambridge, MA, studying English. Outside of writing, you can find her at the Avon or in the basement of the Rock.
