Three Independent Governor Candidates – 06/20/2026

Bill —

This week we are looking at our slate of gubernatorial candidates. As we see in our candidates, Governors’ races are where the independent movement becomes most tangible. A governor doesn’t need a caucus to sign a veto. A governor doesn’t need party leadership to appoint a cabinet secretary. The executive office is, in many ways, the role most naturally suited to an independent. It is someone who answers only to the electorate, not to a party structure. This week, three of the most compelling independent governor candidates in the country have news worth telling.

Ken Block is a software engineer, data analytics expert, and government accountability watchdog making his third run for governor. He founded the Rhode Island Moderate Party in 2010, ran as a Republican in 2014, and is now running as an independent because, as he puts it: “My flavor of politics doesn’t align well with either political party.” He is a problem solver, a manager, a builder, and he has the credentials to back it up.

Block’s most significant credential for this moment in American politics is the important work he did after the 2020 election. In the wake of the 2020 election, he was hired by the Trump campaign to search for election fraud. After a thorough, data-driven investigation, he found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome in any swing state. He then did something even more remarkable: he told them so directly, and published his findings for the entire country to see in his 2024 book, Disproven.

Ken Block This Week:

Block appeared on CNN and C-SPAN  to discuss the renewed national conversation around election integrity and what the data actually shows about the security of American elections.

Block is running because Rhode Island’s governance has frustrated him for years. He has been a leading voice speaking out against the sudden closure of the westbound Washington Bridge, a symbol of what he sees as the chronic management failures of a state run without accountability. His view of the governor’s job is to fix the systems, eliminate the waste, and manage the institution better.

Lauren Pinkston is a seventh-generation Tennessean, a former Lipscomb University professor, entrepreneur, and nonprofit leader who spent years starting businesses with survivors of human trafficking, researching employment gaps in the workforce, and advising global organizations before deciding that the most urgent injustice she could address was the system itself. She is running as an independent for governor to change a system that seems to reward political extremism and fails to represent all Tennesseans, not just party loyalists.

Her campaign slogan, Not Red, Not Blue. Just You, reflects a deliberately citizen-first approach in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006 and has long been treated as a foregone conclusion for Republican leadership. Pinkston is challenging that assumption by pointing to a growing constituency of Tennesseans who feel left behind by the partisan framework entirely. She cited 2024 Gallup data showing 43% of Americans considered themselves independent voters, affiliated with neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party, and is building her coalition from that reality on the ground.

The TN race this week:

The Tennessee gubernatorial race has been rocked by new reporting on Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn. New recordings allege that Senator Blackburn’s office pressured its staffers to illegally participate in political activity, warning colleagues that they would be “asked to break the law on some level.”

The story raises questions that Forward and Lauren Pinkston’s campaign are built to answer: How do voters trust their own government when those in charge believe the rules don’t apply to them?

Pinkston is the most credible independent in the governor’s field by fundraising and institutional support, running a grassroots campaign that has resonated with voters who are exhausted by the partisan binary. She launched her campaign late last year with three stops across the state making clear from the beginning that she was running for all of Tennessee, not for a party’s base.

Rick Bennett has an impressive resume by any standard. With 18 combined years in the Maine House and Senate, including a unanimous election as President of the Maine Senate, Bennett has the receipts to prove that work can be done across party lines. He has spent nearly two decades doing exactly that in Augusta. He knows every committee chairman. He has negotiated budgets with members of both parties. He has been in the room when deals get made. Ultimately, he has a legislative record that highlights a willingness to get things done.

The general election field is now set: Bennett faces Democrat Hannah Pingree and Republican Bobby Charles in a three-way November race without ranked-choice voting, meaning the winner takes a plurality, and every vote is consequential. His path runs through primary voters whose candidates didn’t survive RCV, the independents that make up an equal share of Maine’s electorate as members of either party, and whatever slice of moderate Republicans conclude that Charles is too closely aligned with Trump to be credible in a state that voted for Harris by seven points in 2024.

Bennett Campaign this week: 

Rick Bennett unveiled his tax affordability plan this week, including provisions to build income-sensitive property tax relief, eliminate corruption and misuse of government funds, and create an office of the inspector general to investigate whistleblower complaints.  “Property taxes fall hardest on people with fixed incomes, older Mainers and small business owners,” he said at a Portland event Monday. “That is where I will start.”

Bennett describes what drove him to leave the Republican Party in terms he’d clearly been sitting with for a while: the parties, he says, have gone “deeper, darker, and dumber into this cesspool of politics that is really driving a lot of ordinary people not just out of politics, but out of the public space entirely — and I think that’s intentional.” He added: “There are people who are putting their kids through college by keeping us fighting with each other rather than solving issues.”

What Three Governors’ Races Tell Us

Ken Block, Lauren Pinkston, and Rick Bennett are running with different ideologies and solutions for their home states. It is what makes the Forward Party design essential in today’s politics. Each understands what works for their constituents and what will solve the problems unique to their state. A party’s leadership should not dictate that.

The Forward Party supports leaders who reflect a more representative politics, one where problem-solving matters more than party labels and where elected officials are accountable to the people they serve.

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 last week’s episode, Lindsey Williams Drath, Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, and guest host Jackie Salit examine the barriers independent candidates face in getting on the ballot.

Joined by Arizona gubernatorial candidate Hugh Lytle and Texas lieutenant governor candidate Mike Collier, they discuss restrictive election laws, court challenges, and a system that often favors the two major parties.

Click the image below to watch.

July 29, 2026 at 7:30pm Eastern Time

A Conversation with Lindsey Williams Drath, FWD Party CEO

Join the Forward Party Women’s Committee for a discussion with Forward Party CEO Lindsey Williams Drath and her outlook on the future of women in the party.

August 01, 2026 at 5:00pm Eastern Time

Young Forwardists Introduction

Join members of the Young Forwardists as they introduce you to the Forward Party and how you can get involved in our pivotal movement to make politics better.

August 02, 2026 at 8:00pm Eastern Time

Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Women’s Committee Virtual Meet and Greet

The Women’s Committee has been growing, and we want to learn more about our new members. Join us and get to know each other better.

If you’re tired of waiting for the system to fix itself — this is your moment.
👥 Volunteer | 🗳️ Run for Office | 💸 Donate | 🌐 forwardparty.com

Ken Block on C-SPAN Washington Journal

Ken Block joined the program in response to President Trump’s actions and speech last week on voting and election integrity.

Congressman Kevin Kiley on CBS News The Takeout

Representative Kevin Kiley (I-CA) joined Major Garrett to discuss the procedural hurdle in the House this week.

House passes government funding extension: NPR

Lawmakers avoided a government shutdown and proposed changes to handling budget fights in the future.