Pingree, Bellows and Jackson band together with ranked-choice pitch to voters

Three Democrats running for governor — Hannah Pingree, Shenna Bellows and Troy Jackson — have joined forces and announced that they will be ranking each other on the June 9 primary ballot.

In a joint statement Friday, the candidates highlighted their experiences working together and alignment on several issues.

“I’ve worked with Shenna and Hannah a long time, and I respect the hell out of them,” Jackson said. “I’m running to win this race for working class people and end the status quo, but I ask that if you plan to vote for me, you rank them right after.”

While the statement did not mention their other two opponents, Nirav Shah and Angus King III, the strategy is a way to utilize the ranked-choice system and potentially overcome the challenge of splitting votes between similar candidates. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the race will enter into a ranked-choice run-off, where the second choice of the bottom candidate gets reassigned until someone gains a majority. 

The November general election will not use ranked-choice voting.

“I’ve been in the trenches fighting for labor with Troy and for marriage equality with Hannah,” said Bellows, a former legislator and current Maine Secretary of State. “I know Hannah and Troy well, and I know that we share the same commitment to progressive change for the people of Maine.”

“I’m asking Mainers to rank me first, but also to support these two colleagues with their second and third place votes,” she added. “I helped pass ranked choice voting so you’d have this power. Use it.”

The strategy is also a way for the three more progressive candidates to band together and overcome the perceived frontrunner, Shah, who became a household figure when he led the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The latest Pan Atlantic Research Survey released this week found that Shah continues to lead in the race. Of the 402 likely Democratic primary voters surveyed by the independent pollster, 29% said they would rank Shah as their first choice, and 10% as their second choice. Following Shah, the race tightens, particularly when taking into account first and second choices, though 16% of voters said they are still undecided.

During a debate earlier this month, the candidates were asked which of their opponents they would encourage voters to rank second. Only Shah answered directly, naming Pingree, a former Mills administration official and Maine House of Representatives speaker.

The three candidates also announced Friday they are planning a joint event next Tuesday, and said they invited U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner to join them. Details of the event have yet to be announced.

On Thursday, Platner shared that he had voted early and ranked Jackson first, followed by Pingree and Bellows (though he didn’t specify in what order).

“Those three candidates, all of them — whether it’s on issues of democracy and standing up to Donald Trump, whether it’s around the environment, whether it’s around broader progressive values — they are the ones that I think most represent my value set and the kind of future of the Democratic Party and the future of the American political system that I want to see,” he said during a Hancock County Democratic Committee meeting. 

This is not the first time gubernatorial candidates have coordinated their strategy. When outgoing Gov. Janet Mills ran in the 2018 Democratic primary, two of her opponents — former Maine House Speaker Mark Eves and lobbyist Betsy Sweet — similarly pitched themselves as a package.