|
This week, we’re going to Maine, where something historic just happened quietly and deserves to be said loudly.
While Maine’s U.S Senate primary has been a focal point recently with party candidates Graham Platner and Susan Collins occupying headlines, the Governor’s race has brought voters’ optimism back to their state.
We’re featuring Rick Bennett this week – Bennett is a Harvard-educated businessman, a former President of the Maine State Senate, and a lifelong Republican who spent decades building his party — then walked away from it. On June 24, 2025, he announced he would run for governor as an independent, ending a party affiliation he’d held his entire political life.
Just a couple weeks ago, he qualified for the November gubernatorial ballot — the only independent to do so.
Here is the argument most independent candidates have to make: I’ll find a way to work with everyone once I get there. Rick Bennett doesn’t have to try to make that argument – he already has the record proving that he can. He has spent 18 years in the Maine Legislature doing exactly what he is now asking Maine voters to elect him do in the Blaine House. He has built coalitions, negotiated with Democrats and Republicans, moved legislation through a divided chamber, and delivered results on the issues Maine families actually talk about at the kitchen table.
This is not a candidate learning on the job. This is a candidate who has already done the job, at every level of the legislative process, and who is now asking for the chance to do it from the top.
___
The Maine governor’s race has gone to a ranked-choice runoff, with results expected before June 19th. On the GOP side, with 43% of votes counted Tuesday night, Bobby Charles — an attorney who ran a Trump-style campaign largely relying on social media — led with more than 38%. No candidate crossed the 50% threshold, sending the Republican primary to a ranked-choice runoff that will conclude before June 19th. Ben Midgley and Jonathan Bush were neck-and-neck for second place.
The Democratic field is even less clear, with Nirav Shah, Hannah Pingree, Troy Jackson, and Shenna Bellows all within 6% of each other. Who comes out of that field is anyone’s guess. But one thing is clear – Rick is the only candidate who is ready to win in November.
Maine loves its independents, having elected two independent governors in its modern history: James Longley, who served from 1975 to 1979, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, who served as governor from 1995 to 2003 before being elected to the Senate.
Rick was the first candidate that the Forward Party endorsed for the 2026 cycle in December of 2025. He’s the right leader for Maine, and we’re proud to support his campaign.
Please forward this to your friends, family, and coworkers. It helps us introduce them to Forward and to what we are building. Also consider inviting them to one of our upcoming events listed below. We’d love to meet them.
|
|
If you haven’t caught the newest episode of The Forward Party Podcast that dropped most recently, be sure to give it a watch!
Click the image below to watch.
|
|
Join Head of Volunteer Programs Carrie Anne Templeton and Forward National to learn how to grow the Forward Party in your home state. Dozens of Forwardists just like you attend this training every month and learn how to be a changemaker in their community – join the party!
Join Forward CEO Lindsey Williams Drath for a fireside chat hosted by the Forward Women’s Committee! Get the inside scoop on all things FWD.
This virtual town hall hosted by the Foundation for Independent Voter Education and Open Primaries, examines ballot access and what’s at stake across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. This is the policy conversation behind the headlines.
Featured Guests:
Jeremy Gruber — Open Primaries
Oliver Hall — Center for Competitive Democracy
Moderated by Sarah Lenti. The conversation covers state-specific ballot access barriers, real-world candidate and voter experiences, structural obstacles facing independents, and practical pathways for reform. Whether you’re a candidate, a voter, or just someone who believes the rules should be fair, this one couldn’t be more timely.
If you’re tired of waiting for the system to fix itself — this is your moment.
👥 Volunteer | 🗳️ Run for Office | 💸 Donate | 🌐 forwardparty.com
|
|
Contrary to what our detractors on social media say, YES, we read!
With the Republican Primary set to move a very Trump oriented Republican through the nomination, others in the party, including candidates who seem poised to lose the primary, are considering Rick Bennett instead.
Kevin Kiley, currently the only independent serving in the House of Representatives won the primary in CA-06 this year, with Democrat Richard Pan earning the second spot and moving on to November as well. Kiley is poised to retake his seat even after mid decade redistricting tried to push him out of Washington.
Forward endorsed Democrat and former U.S. Congressman Jermaine Johnson looks likely to receive the Democratic nomination for the Governor’s seat in South Carolina.
|
|
|
|
