AUGUSTA, Maine -- The Bobby Charles for Governor campaign today released a side-by-side review of the latest campaign finance reports showing a clear contrast in who is underwriting the two major-party nominees for governor. Charles has raised more than $500,000 from all sources in the most recent fundraising period. His campaign now boasts a complete unique donor list for this race totaling more than 5,000 individuals.

Working Mainers are funding Bobby Charles. Special interests are funding Hannah Pingree.

In the most recent reporting window, Charles raised $475,239.74 with an average contribution of $179.00 -- and 86 percent of that money came from Maine. Pingree raised $1,219,748.47 with an average contribution of $287.74 -- and only 64 percent of it came from Maine.

“These numbers tell you everything you need to know about this race,” said Bobby Charles, the Republican nominee for Governor. “Maine families who are tired of higher taxes, closed hospitals, and Augusta nonsense are writing smaller checks to change the direction of this state. Hannah Pingree is collecting bigger checks from the same crowd that has been running Maine into the ground -- union bosses, developer LLCs, healthcare PACs, and Augusta law firms. You can tell a lot about a candidate by who pays the bills.”

The Tale of Two Campaigns

Pingree outraised Charles on raw dollars. She did it the Augusta way: fewer Maine households, larger average checks, and a donor list stacked with political action committees, law firms, developers, and industries that live off state policy.

Who Is Writing Pingree’s Checks

A review of group contributions to Pingree includes a roster of special-interest PACs, politically connected law firms, real-estate entities, and healthcare operators -- including maximum or near-maximum gifts of $2,075, Maine’s individual/PAC contribution cap for this cycle.

What the Donor List Reveals

Augusta insiders writing the checks. Bernstein Shur -- one of Maine’s most connected government-affairs and law firms -- maxed out to Pingree. A Bernstein Shur attorney also serves as an authorized agent on Pingree’s own campaign finance registration. That is not grassroots support. That is the Augusta club taking care of its own.

Healthcare operators with business before the state. Pingree took $2,075 from the Genesis Healthcare Inc PAC -- the political arm of a national nursing-home chain that has faced bankruptcy proceedings and MaineCare disputes with the State of Maine -- and $2,700 from Schooner Memory Care Operations LLC, a long-term care operator. Families struggling to find and afford care should ask why those checks landed in her account.

Developers and LLCs, not kitchen-table donors. Fallbrook Development, Midtown Mall Assoc., Forest Avenue Plaza LLC, and Stonehavens Global LLC all appear on Pingree’s list. When housing costs are crushing Maine families, voters deserve to know which real-estate interests are investing in the next governor.

Labor PACs and political funds -- maxed out. IBEW PAC Educational Fund, IBEW Local 11253, Maine AFL-CIO PAC, USW D-4, UBC Local 349 PAC, Workers First PAC, Building Solidarity Action Fund, the MEA education fund, Make It Work PAC, and Citizens for Justice in Maine are not neighbors passing the hat. They are organized political operations buying a seat at the table.

A prediction market that is also taking bets on this race. Kalshi, a prediction-market company that lists contracts on the Maine governor’s race itself, contributed $2,075 to Pingree. Mainers should not have to wonder whether the people running markets on this election are also underwriting one of the candidates.

“Hannah Pingree wants voters to believe she is the candidate of ordinary Mainers,” Charles said. “Then look at the list. Nursing-home PACs. Developer LLCs. Union political funds. An Augusta law firm that also helps run her campaign paperwork. Even a betting market that is taking wagers on whether she wins. That is not a people’s campaign. That is a special-interest campaign with a Maine zip code stapled to the letterhead.”

Charles: Small-Dollar Maine Money, Big-Dollar Maine Values

Charles’ $179 average contribution and 86 percent in-state share reflect a campaign built on conversations in diners, church basements, town halls, and living rooms -- not on maxed-out PAC transfers. The campaign noted that a lower average gift and a higher Maine percentage are the opposite of the Augusta model: they mean more people, closer to home, writing what they can afford.

“I would rather have 86 percent of my support come from Maine at $179 a check than build a campaign on $2,075 gifts from people who want something from the next governor,” Charles said. “When I am governor, I will work for the people who actually live here -- not the PACs, LLCs, and lobby shops that have had a friend in the Blaine House for too long.”

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About Bobby Charles

Bobby Charles grew up in Wayne, Maine. He served in the Reagan White House, as Chief Counsel to the U.S. House National Security Subcommittee, and as Assistant Secretary of State under Secretary Colin Powell. After 9/11 he volunteered for active duty as a Naval Intelligence Officer. He is the Republican nominee for Governor of Maine. Learn more at BobbyForMaine.com.