Pingree Disqualifies Herself as a Serious Candidate by Showing She Doesn't Know Size of State Budget

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PORTLAND, Maine — Republican nominee Bobby Charles dominated tonight’s televised gubernatorial debate on WGME CBS 13 and FOX 23, putting Democrat Hannah Pingree on the defensive over basic math errors, misstatements about public charter schools, serious questions of self-dealing, and the documented failures of the Mills-Pingree administration.

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Pingree claimed that Bobby’s plan to cut $4 billion from the budget amounted to “more than half” of the state budget. The current state biennial budget is approximately $30 billion. Four billion dollars is not half of $30 billion — it is roughly 13 percent. The exaggeration was clear to viewers and underscored a pattern of loose numbers when defending the status quo.

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Pingree also attacked Charles for supporting charter schools, describing them as private schools that divert money from public schools. Under Maine law (Title 20-A, Chapter 112), public charter schools are public schools. They are tuition-free, open to all students through lottery when oversubscribed, and part of the public education system. The funding follows the student within the public system.

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“Hannah Pingree spent the night misstating the size of the budget and mislabeling public charter schools as private,” said Dale Crafts, Jr., campaign manager for Bobby Charles for Governor. “Mainers watching at home know $4 billion is not half of a $30 billion budget, and they know charter schools in this state are public schools by law. When the math and the basic facts don’t add up, it tells you everything about the record she’s defending.”

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On housing — one of the night’s central issues — Bobby Charles delivered a direct contrast in the debate:

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“Mills/Pingree have killed the American Dream. Most Mainers cannot afford a median house. It’s a $30 billion problem, we’re 80,000 units down, Hannah has suggested 250 houses being built solves the problem with $100 million, I don’t agree. What I’m going to do is roll back the burdensome regulations on builders, number one. Number two, use the tax code to accelerate manufacturing. Number three, use the governorship to speed up permitting. Number four, promote tax exemptions for first-time homebuyers, particularly those that are young and they’re out there trying to pay rent right now. Next, reduce and eventually eliminate the noncitizens in our public housing. Mainers do not need gimmicks, like a 250 house answer to a $30 billion problem. What they want is real housing, they want their housing to be available to them and as governor, that’ll be a priority to me.”

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While Pingree tried to change the subject and defend the status quo, Charles repeatedly returned to the core choice facing Maine voters: continue the insider deals and declining results of the last eight years, or elect a former federal prosecutor and naval intelligence officer who will cut taxes, cut crime, lower costs, and demand real accountability.

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“Tonight made the choice crystal clear,” Charles said after the debate. “Hannah Pingree and Janet Mills doubled housing costs, drove up electricity bills, left Maine last in the nation on children’s well-being, and oversaw a system where tens of millions in Medicaid dollars for autism services were improperly paid while vulnerable kids went without. You don’t invite the people who created the fire to put it out. Mainers saw that tonight.”

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Corruption and transparency questions that will not go away

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Charles again pressed Pingree on the $37,458 Community Resilience Partnership grant her office (the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future) awarded to the Island Institute in 2022 while she served as director. At the same time, the Institute was a client of her husband Jason Mann’s Beechwood Film company, which produced the climate film “Climate of Change – Clean Energy Solutions for the Working Waterfront.”

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Public records do not yet prove the grant dollars went directly to Mann or Beechwood Film — which is precisely why Charles has demanded the contracts, invoices, payment records, conflict disclosures, and communications. Pingree has called the questions “completely made up,” and the Island Institute has said no state or federal dollars funded the film series. Charles has responded that if nothing improper occurred, the full records should be released immediately so Mainers can judge for themselves.

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Additional questions surround an $840,000 forgivable housing loan connected to North Haven Sustainable Housing (where Mann has served in a leadership role and Pingree previously had involvement) and the evaluation process for the Island Institute grant, including the role of a former Island Institute Fellow who participated in scoring and certified no conflict.

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“These are not abstract ethics questions,” Charles said. “They are about whether taxpayer money under Hannah’s watch ended up benefiting her family or connected organizations, and whether proper recusals and transparency occurred. Trust in Augusta is broken. The only way to restore it is full disclosure — not denials and stonewalling.”

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The broader record of failure

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Charles tied the ethics questions to concrete results under the Mills administration, in which Pingree served as a senior policy official from 2019 to 2025:

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• Housing costs that have roughly doubled for the median home, pricing young Mainers out of ownership.
• A projected budget shortfall exceeding $1.3 billion.
• Child welfare crises, including multiple child deaths in short order in 2021, a rising foster-care population, and a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over failures to serve children with disabilities in the community.
• Declining education outcomes, with Maine ranking near the bottom nationally in fourth-grade reading proficiency.
• At least $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments for autism and related rehabilitative services identified in a federal audit.
• High electricity and property tax burdens that continue to squeeze working families.

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“Hannah wants credit for her years next to Janet Mills, but she refuses to own the results,” Charles said. “Kids died. Reading scores collapsed. Tens of millions went out the door improperly. Housing became unaffordable. That is the record she is asking Maine to extend for four more years.”

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Independent Rick Bennett offered process critiques and bipartisanship rhetoric but did not present a clear break from the status quo on taxes, spending, or accountability.

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The choice for Maine

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Charles closed by outlining his priorities: a major homestead exemption increase fully reimbursed by the state, zero property taxes for 100% disabled veterans, regulatory relief to speed housing production, a hiring freeze and restructuring of key agencies, an end to insider contracting, and immediate steps to lower energy costs. He reiterated that he will confront Washington — including the Trump administration — when Maine’s interests are at stake, particularly on tariffs affecting Canadian trade.

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Early voting is underway. Election Day is November 3, 2026.

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To watch clips from tonight’s debate and learn more about Bobby Charles’s plans, visit BobbyForMaine.com or follow @Bobby4Maine on X and the campaign’s Facebook page.

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ABOUT BOBBY CHARLES

Bobby Charles is the Republican nominee for Governor of Maine and a native of Wayne. A former federal prosecutor and naval intelligence officer, he is running to cut taxes, cut crime, bring down electricity and fuel costs, and end the insider dealing that has defined eight years of the Mills administration. He faces Democrat Hannah Pingree and independent Rick Bennett on November 3. More at BobbyForMaine.com.

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