Dunlap, Bellows & Pingree

As the June 9 primary day approaches, Maine Democrats have great choices. And, because this is a ranked choice race, voters can rank more than one candidate.

Here are my top picks in what appear to be the most contested races.1

Matt Dunlap is far and away the best candidate in the race and the best situated to win.

Dunlap brings a range of governing experiences as a state legislator and Secretary of State and is now State Auditor. But it’s what he did in those offices that really impresses me, as well as his positions, values and integrity.

Voting rights is a top issue for me. Dunlap is not only a massive champion of voting rights but his work shows his tenacity and strength.

In 2017, after Trump was first elected, he formed a commission to investigate purported voting fraud. Yes, this has long been a Trump obsession. Dunlap, then Maine Secretary of State, was asked to join and he agreed.

A bunch of voting rights experts said Dunlap was wrong, that he should have stayed off the commission, that he would legitimize a bad faith effort. Dear reader, I must admit, I thought that myself. We were all wrong.

From his perch where he was able to really observe what the Trump group was doing, Dunlap noticed serious problems. He brought a lawsuit against it and it got disbanded.

Wow.

Fast forward to 2025 when ME-2’s Democratic congressman Jared Golden backed the SAVE Act, a voter suppression bill. Dunlap reached out to Golden and told him that a lot of what he said about voter registration and drivers’ licenses was false. Golden just kept pushing back even though former Secretary of State Dunlap knew the laws inside and out.

And when numerous Golden constituents increasingly criticized Golden and brought up Dunlap’s name as a possible opponent, Dunlap stepped forward. This was another act of political courage because national Democrats did not like it at all.

Wow again.

As a friend of mine put it, Dunlap is the Clark Kent of Maine politics -- a mild-mannered, regular looking guy who is strong, smart and tough and ready to take on the big guys.

Not a single other Democrat in the ME-2 race has this record of standing up to Trump and their own party leaders. They all waited to run until after Golden left the race.

(DC Dems are now backing Joe Baldacci, who has positions on health care and money in politics to the right of Jared Golden’s in 2018. Dunlap, Wood and Loud have all protested this Washington meddling.)

Add to this Dunlap’s unique ability to appeal to rural areas in the district. He grew up on a farm and his family had a small business. He’s held many working class jobs and he hunts and fishes and worked for Maine sportsmen’s groups.

Matt combines character and hard work and public and community service with humor, kindness and great stories. He’s a listener and learner who served on the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Dunlap doesn’t have big money like Jordan Wood, who’s drawn from his connections as a digital fundraiser for national Democrats, or funds from the national Democratic party like my state senator, Joe Baldacci, who has been falsely claiming that Dunlap is not pro-choice. Another candidate is Page Loud, a 29-year old social worker who moved to Maine in 2023 who is decidedly to the left of most ME-2 voters.

And, while all of the Democratic candidates are far superior to Paul LePage, who will be the GOP nominee, Matt Dunlap is the best and deserves your top ranking.

What a stellar field.

Three of the candidates, Shenna Bellows, Hannah Pingree and Troy Jackson, cross-endorsed each other and are my favorites in the field of five. My top two are Shenna Bellows and Hannah Pingree. Andy O’Brien, who ranked Troy Jackson first, has the same top three as me in the governor’s race. His piece is well worth reading and pondering.

In fact, I really wanted her to run.

Bellows has a long track record as a supporter of rights for Maine people. While the head of the state’s ACLU, she was a major force in the campaign to pass marriage equality in Maine. Later she was the director of Maine’s Holocaust and Human Rights Center. Bellows has been a legislator and now is Maine’s Secretary of State.

Work running nonprofits. Check!

Work in the legislature. Check!

Work running a state agency. Check!

And besides that, Bellows is both a certified bad ass, who doesn’t back down from standing up for what she thinks is right AND a person who sits down and listens and works with others to craft solutions.

She applied the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification clause when Trump’s eligibility as a candidate was challenged, despite knowing that it would cause backlash and threats of violence.

Shenna is such a warm, engaging person that her backbone and brilliance might go unnoticed or underestimated. Or perhaps some might apply gendered standards and not recognize her toughness and work ethic. That would be a mistake.

As I mentioned, I really care about voting rights and Bellows has been on the front line in defending Maine from efforts by the Trump administration and his Maine allies to sure our elections are accessible and fair.

On a range of policy issues, Bellows has great ideas. I’m convinced she would be a stellar governor who will get a lot done to help Mainers.

At some point I became Pingree curious and I went to see her at my local library. I also gave her campaign website a close read. Based on what I read, saw and heard from others, I placed her in my top two.

Like Bellows, Pingree has done a lot of different things. She’s not only been a legislator, but was a very young and well respected Speaker of the Maine House.

Then Pingree spent a good amount of time raising her family and running a business. This is great experience in a state with an economy largely based on small businesses, with many people who have or want to have one themself. After Janet Mills was elected governor, Pingree returned to Augusta to run the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, a policy shop that works on a number of issues.

Work in the legislature. Check!

Work in a small business. Check!

Work in the executive branch. Check!

What I hear from people who worked with Pingree is an incredible ability to drill into policy details while thinking about Maine government can help people and about how to reach agreements about how to go forward. She’s a policy wonk and political strategist with a heart and real smarts. So when a Republican legislator told her to call a climate bill a fisheries bill to help it get passed, she did it.

At a time when Maine Democrats are not fully united, Graham Platner has included Pingree in his top rankings (along with Troy Jackson, who he ranked first, and Shenna Bellows as well) and Janet Mills says Pingree is her top choice.

Pingree’s campaign website is full of detailed plans. Hannah Pingree also has the knowledge and experience to follow through and pass and implement policies. She also has the temperament and skills for that to work.

If you’re a registered Democrat or an unenrolled voter who wants to vote in the Democratic primaries, I hope you will rank my recommended candidates high when you cast your ballot in these highly contested primaries.

But whoever you pick and in what order, please vote.

In person early voting ends on Thursday, June 4.

Make sure you vote by Election Day, June 9.

Should you have questions about voting, see this guide from the Maine Monitor.

If you have the time, talk to a friend about the candidates, make some calls and knock on some doors.

And be ready to do the same before the very consequential November elections.