ME-Gov: On a night of many disappointments, the race for Maine's governorship proved an especially bitter one for Democrats in 2014, as then-Rep. Mike Michaud fell 5 points short of unseating Gov. Paul LePage, one of Republicans most despised by liberals. Come 2018, though, LePage will be term-limited, theoretically giving Team Blue a better shot at reclaiming Maine's governorship, and there are several candidates on both sides who could run.
Local TV news station WCSH has a helpful rundown of some of the main (sorry) contenders. For Democrats, businessman Adam Cote, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who lost the primary for Maine's 1st Congressional District in 2008 to now-Rep. Chellie Pingree, has expressed interest, as has car dealer Adam Lee, whose company describes itself as the state's "no. 1 volume auto dealer."
A trio of current officeholders have also not ruled out bids: state Attorney General Janet Mills, state Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond, and state House Speaker Mark Eves. (Both Alfond and Eves are about to leave office shortly due to term limits, and note that in Maine, attorney general is not an elected position.) WCSH also mentions state Sen. Troy Jackson, who was just selected by his colleagues to replace Alfond and was Bernie Sanders' top surrogate in the state this year.
On the GOP side, the big question is whether Sen. Susan Collins will run. Collins has long been rumored to be interested in making the switch from the Senate to the governor's mansion, and a spokesman is keeping those rumors alive, saying this week that "it was too early to speculate" about her intentions. That's probably driving other Republicans nuts, since they'll all have to wait to see what Collins does. In the meantime, though, state party chair Rick Bennett says that he's considering, and WCSH also mentions Rep. Bruce Poliquin, state Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew, and former state Rep. Joe Bruno, the CEO of a chain of pharmacies, as potential candidates.