Republican · Maine governor · 2026
Bobby Charles
Charles grew up in Wayne, Maine, where his mother was a public school teacher.
Biography
Bobby Charles grew up in Wayne, Maine, where his mother taught public school.1 He recalls each child in his family having a garden plot to tend, including the weeding.2 He later turned stories of small town childhood and the World War II veterans he knew into a 2018 book, Eagles and Evergreens: A Rural Maine Childhood.3
Charles graduated from Dartmouth, studied at Oxford and earned his law degree at Columbia.4 He clerked for a federal appeals court and practiced law in New York and Washington.4 He also taught government and cyberlaw at the Harvard Extension School and served in the Navy Reserve, volunteering for active duty after September 11.4
His government experience includes domestic policy work in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses.4 In the 1990s, he was chief counsel and staff director for a House subcommittee covering national security, international affairs and criminal justice.4 From 2003 to 2005, he served as assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs.5
For Maine, Charles pledges to abolish the state income tax, reduce regulations and strengthen law enforcement, addiction recovery and mental health services.6 His campaign also proposes increasing the homestead exemption to $100,000.6 He faces Democrat Hannah Pingree and independent Rick Bennett for the open governorship, with Janet Mills leaving after her final term.7
Record and controversies
Contribution limit violations and fine
On October 26, 2026, Maine's ethics commission unanimously found that Charles' campaign had accepted more than $45,000 in contributions exceeding state limits, then voted 4 to 1 to impose a $22,657 fine.8 The campaign reported returning the excess contributions; commissioners nevertheless held that it should not have accepted them.8 This is an actual campaign finance finding and civil penalty, rather than merely an opponent's allegation.8