Republican state senator enters race for governor
The Blaine House, residence of Maine's governor, in Augusta. Sept. 5, 2023. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
State Sen. James Libby is running in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Libby, who represents parts of Cumberland, Oxford and York counties, is one of five Republican candidates contending for the Blaine House, according to filings with the Maine Ethics Commission.
The race is already starting to get crowded, with the Democratic ticket drawing notable names including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who announced her bid in late March, as well as Angus King III, the son of independent U.S. senator and former governor Angus King Jr., who announced his run earlier this month.
And Libby won't be the only candidate with recent experience in the Maine Legislature's upper chamber. Former Senate President Troy Jackson announced his run for the Democratic primary earlier this week.
The other Republicans currently running are Kenneth Capron of Portland, Bangor resident Bobby Charles, who previously worked in the federal government during the George W. Bush administration, and Navy veteran Steven Christopher Sheppard, also of Bangor. Unenrolled candidate Alexander Kenneth Murchison of Dover Foxcroft is also running.
Libby is in the middle of his second consecutive term in the Senate, but he has also spent time as a state representative after being first elected to the Legislature in 1992. He also ran in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary.
Among the bills Libby introduced this legislative session are measures to add political affiliation as a protected class under the Maine Human Rights Act and reinstate the failed Property Tax Stabilization Program.
Libby, who is also a professor at Thomas College, serves on the Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
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