Hannah Pingree Launches Blaine House Bid
- Brina Stairs
- Jun 10
- 3 min read
Pingree chose the new Peasley Park housing complex as the backdrop for her announcement.
Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree of North Haven announced Tuesday, June 10, that she is running for governor.
“I’m running for governor to bring Mainers together to do the hard things that none of us can do by ourselves. Together, we can achieve the bright future that we know is possible,” Pingree said.
Pingree chose the new 49-unit Peasley Park housing complex on Maverick Street for the backdrop of her announcement. Residents are expected to move into the facility in the next few weeks. The gubernatorial candidate cited the efforts in Rockland.
“We choose this place to kick off this campaign because of bold leaders like Kevin Bunker, Holly Fenney, Mayor Penny York and her city council. They are making the city of Rockland a leader in developing urgently needed housing,” Pingree said.
Pingree vowed to focus every single day on investing in housing that is affordable for Mainers.
She also talked about working on health care to make it more accessible across the state and easier to navigate. She said she wants communities where workers and businesses can thrive, where families can be safe and where children have great public schools.
“After nearly 25 years in public service I am running for governor. I know there are no easy solutions, only hard work and staying focused on what matters,” she said.
Mayor Penny York; Rockland City Councilors Adam Lachman and Nate Davis; Chris Rector, a former state senator and current Thomaston Select Board Chair who worked for U.S. Sen. Angus King; and Rep. Valli Geiger of Rockland were among those in attendance for Pingree’s announcement.
Pingree also scheduled events June 10 in Lewiston, Biddeford and Portland.
The primary will be held in June 2026 with the general election in November 2026.
Pingree, the daughter of longtime Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, represented Maine House District 36 from 2003 through 2010, which covered North Haven, Vinalhaven, Isle au Haut and the Hancock County towns of Brooklin, Deer Isle, Frenchboro, Stonington, Swan’s Island, and Tremont and part of Mount Desert. She served two terms as Maine speaker and at the time was the youngest House speaker.
Since then, she has served as chair of the North Haven School Board while raising two children on the island. She got involved in community projects including a housing organization that developed an elder care facility and rental housing on North Haven.
The North Haven woman operates the Nebo Lodge on the Penobscot Bay island.
She talked about how Maine people work together to tackle challenges. She cited the major damage done to the J.O. Brown and Son boatyard on North Haven from the first of two record-shattering storms in January 2024 and how half the town joined the Brown family to rebuild.
“This is the community where I was raised and proud to say I still live,” Pingree said.
Pingree served as director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future from 2019 until May 16, 2025.
“We knew we had to take the long view on Maine’s big problems. The government could not solve problems in silos. We worked not just to come up with big ideas and plans but to bring people together all across the state to get things done,” Pingree said about the state office which dealt with climate action, economic opportunities and housing. She said there are now more housing projects in the pipeline than ever before.
Pingree is the fifth candidate to announce a run for the Democratic nomination for governor. Already filed to run for the seat are Secretary Shenna Bellows, state Sen. Troy Jackson of Allagash, Angus King III of Portland who is the son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, and Kenneth Pines of South Portland.
Seven Republicans have also filed their intent to seek their party’s nomination for governor — Kenneth Capron of Portland, Robert Charles of Bangor, David Jones of Falmouth, James Libby of Standish, Steven Sheppard of Bangor and Robert Wessels of Norway. State Sen. Laurel Libby of Auburn is also expected to seek the Republican nomination.
Read the article here at midcoastvillager.com.