The first gubernatorial numbers are in

The first round of gubernatorial fundraising numbers show us the state of the race

We haven’t had any horse race type polls on the Maine gubernatorial race, so we haven’t had much of a picture of the overall contest yet - just one early poll that mainly reflected name recognition. Since then, we’ve had new candidates enter the race in both parties as well as the first independent, former Maine Republican Party chairman Rick Bennett. Now, though, we’ve got real data: the first round of fundraising reports.

You can see below the fundraising totals from all of the candidates in both parties so far. Predictably, Democrats are, collectively, far outraising Republicans as a whole. Two Democrats - Shenna Bellows and Hannah Pingree - have already raised more than a half million, and the other two aren’t far behind.

Thus far amongst Republicans, Bobby Charles is in the lead with fundraising - but it must be noted that his totals include a $70,000 loan from himself to the campaign. Still, even without that loan - yes, it was a loan, not a donation, so he believes in himself, but only to a certain extent - he’s in the lead. Newcomer Owen McCarthy is next; his totals also include an $8,300 self-donation. David Jones appears to be doing well, but he’s given himself $26,700 and commercial sources have donated $24,000 to his campaign. Independent Rick Bennett is doing surprisingly well early on, even including his $4,500 self-donation and $23,175 in commercial donations.

On the Democratic side, none of them have self-donated or made loans to their campaigns. They’re doing a much better job with real, grassroots fundraising than their Republican counterparts. A few nuggets stand out amongst their candidates, though: Troy Jackson is the candidate of choice for PACs - 30% of his funds have come from that source, more than anyone else. Shenna Bellows is the opposite: She’s received more than $54,000 in small donations, more than 10% of her total, more than anyone else in that category. Neither she nor Pingree have received any money from PACs thus far. Here’s what that looks like:

Donations are only one side of the ledger, of course. How much are the various candidates spending so far? That, too, tells a story:

Shenna Bellows and Angus S. King III are burning through a lot of their money very early on, in a bid to make themselves serious contenders. On the Republican side, Bobby Charles, Owen McCarthy, and Robert Weasles have been spending money, too, though not nearly as much, obviously. Surprisingly, independent Rick Bennett has also been spending quite a bit of money very quickly - much like Hannah Pingree. So, how much money do they all have left? Here you go:

Hannah Pingree is obviously in the strongest position: She’s brought in the most money, from real, individual donors, and hasn’t spent much yet. Bobby Charles has done well, too, but his sources are less varied and he’s spent more. Rick Bennett, too, is sitting on a hefty pile, well-positioned early on.

All of this will, of course, affect my gubernatorial rankings, so I’ll have an updated version of those out shortly, with newcomer Owen McCarthy included. Jim Libby and Kenneth Capron, it must be notified, are attempting to qualify for Maine Clean Election Act funding, the only two who are doing so. Still, that leaves Libby far behind the other candidates early on.

Jim is also a weekly columnist for the Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest daily newspaper. Follow him on X, BlueSky, or Facebook.