Charles, Pingree spend third debate blaming each other for Mainers’ woes

Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Hannah Pingree punctuated every answer by blaming each other for Mainers’ troubles during their third televised debate on Thursday night.

During the hourlong conversation hosted by WGME, Charles repeatedly accused what he dubbed the “Mills-Pingree administration” for worsening every challenge he was asked about. Pingree pushed back by attributing Mainers’ hardships to a lack of affordability due to President Donald Trump’s policies. 

The finger-pointing resulted in a less substantive debate than the candidates’ previous appearances. 

“This debate here, if you want to call it that, is exactly why we need independent leadership again in this state,” said independent candidate Rick Bennett, who throughout the evening avoided taking sides. “The two parties aren’t getting it done. They’re good at doing what you just heard: fighting with each other, name calling, and all of that.”

The candidates were asked about healthcare, housing and energy costs — all issues they discussed during the first two debates. But they also spoke about education and Medicaid fraud, highlighting their different views on the subjects.

One of the most contentious questions was about the projected $1.3 billion budget shortfall the next governor will have to address. Charles blamed eight years of Democratic control in Augusta for the state budget increases, and directly tied that to Pingree’s work in Gov. Janet Mills’ administration as former head of the Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. 

“This is like someone who takes your credit card, runs it all the way up, doesn’t pay the bills, puts it back on you, and says, ‘Hey, can I have another credit card? I’m ready to go help and fix the problem,’” he said.

Pingree pointed out that the increase in spending was largely due to rising healthcare costs, the state finally meeting its 55% share of public education funding and revenue sharing with towns.

“We need to find a way to sustain those programs, but also tighten our belt during a very difficult time,” she said. “So again, Bobby is selling a lot of snake oil, but the reality is the next governor is going to have to actually get it done.”

Medicaid fraud

Charles and Bennett both said that there was evidence of fraud within the MaineCare system, again blaming it on the state’s Democratic leadership. Charles went much further, however, calling Pingree “the poster child for fraud.”

“The reason that we’re facing a lot of this fraud — and it relates again to mismanagement — is that the Pingree-Mills team accepted Medicaid expansion without funding it,” Charles said.

He has previously blamed the expansion — which allowed 100,000 more low-income Mainers to have health coverage — for the fraud that state and federal Republicans have alleged. While the Department of Health and Human Services has found five providers guilty of fraudulent billing and suspended their contracts, Republicans claim the problem is much more rampant. 

Charles also echoed the GOP refrain that the $46 million the federal government found in improper payments for autism services is evidence of fraud, though that is not what the audit found —a point that debate moderator Gregg Lagerquist clarified.

Bennett proposed the state hire an inspector general to work under the next governor to ensure every complaint of fraud is investigated. 

“What we’ve done in the Legislature is wait every two years for the state auditor to show up and make a report about what’s working, what isn’t working,” he said. “We can’t wait. Maine voters, Maine taxpayers deserve to know that their hard-earned money is being spent well.”

Pingree said she would do everything in her power to ensure “that every healthcare dollar is being spent on healthcare.” But she also blamed Trump and Vice President JD Vance for making baseless allegations about fraud in Maine.

While the Trump administration has targeted Maine for alleged Medicidad fraud, announcing a new audit Friday, the Bangor Daily News reported that federal delays are holding up two cases involving nearly $2 million in potential losses to taxpayers.

Public education 

The three candidates had a rare moment of agreement expressing concern about Maine students’ low test scores. Bennett and Pingree both said if elected, they would rely on evidence-based curriculums including the science of reading. 

“We know that in some school districts they are delivering, and in other school districts they are not,” Pingree said. “We need to ensure that every young person in the state of Maine is getting access to those skills.”

Maine’s current laws do not allow the state to impose mandates, such as requiring districts to use evidence-based curriculum. Other states have shown that state-level guidance has improved academic outcomes that tanked nationwide during the pandemic.

Pingree also criticized Charles for his support of charter schools.

“I believe that every kid deserves equal access to education, and by taking money out of public schools, that is a way to dilute every kid’s ability to learn,” she said. “There are many issues where I disagree with Gov. Mills and her administration, and this is an issue where I do think we need to do much better.”

Charles pushed back on her statement with his own criticism of the Democratic nominee. 

“I find it fascinating that Hannah talks here tonight about public education,” Charles said when asked about his plan. “You had six and a half years to fix it, and you didn’t fix it.”

He said he would overhaul education, including restructuring the curriculum. He also indicated that he would make changes to the broader school environment that would “restore academics and discipline” and “comply with Title IX so that our girls don’t have to worry,” referring to the ongoing dispute over Maine’s inclusive policies regarding transgender athletes.

Of all three candidates, Bennett has released the most comprehensive education plan. He said Tuesday he would ensure every child can read and do math proficiently by the fourth grade. According to latest national test scores, less than a third have reached this benchmark.

He also discussed Maine’s aging school buildings, which are estimated to cost $11 billion to fix, according to a report by the governor’s commission on school construction.

“We’re not rewarding our school districts for keeping the buildings up to date and repaired, and that’s a problem,” Bennett said. “Deferred maintenance is always the place people go when they’re trying to save money, and particularly property tax money. So we do need to listen to the commission’s report on this, but we also need to take action.”