Voter Guide

When we ambitiously set out to build our 2026 Press Herald voter guide, we knew it would be a critical resource for Maine voters. But we had no idea just how crazy Maine’s election year would get.

Former Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner has dropped out of the race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, and Democrats are scrambling to pick a replacement by July 27 — the statutory deadline.

That means we’re in the midst of an unprecedented second mini-primary, with former gubernatorial candidates and others vying to replace Platner on the ballot.

So we’re bringing back the voter guide. The name is a bit of a misnomer this time around, because the Democratic nominee won’t be picked by Maine voters. Instead, a 601-person convention will nominate him or her. But it’s still crucial for all of Maine to know where the Democratic candidates stand on key issues such as the cost of living, immigration and healthcare.

Earlier this spring, we surveyed hundreds of candidates across dozens of Maine elections. We included information about candidates and referendums ranging from small towns to high-profile federal contests. We asked candidates biographical questions that helped voters get to know them, and we asked policy questions that gave you an idea about what they’d do in office.

From the looks of it, you used this resource exactly how we hoped you would. In the runup to the election, more than 20,000 readers logged into our voter guide – many of them on the morning of Election Day.  

We’ll do all of this again in the fall — and we’re even hoping to expand our coverage to races all over the state. If you are a candidate in a contested Nov. 3 race, look out for our questionnaire in the coming months. The higher the participation rate, the better.

But for now, we’re just focusing on the Democratic Senate race.

See you at the July 25 convention.

— Kirby Wilson, politics editor