Maine Policy Institute

"I have built a billion-dollar company from scratch and created 15,000 jobs. Very few people will ever have that experience..."
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Ben Midgley for Governor is a 2026 Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate and an entrepreneur with a successful career in the fitness industry. He got his start by cleaning gym equipment in exchange for a membership, which quickly spun off into doing, in his words, “virtually every job you could do” in fitness.

Eventually he rose to become an executive, serving as the president of Planet Fitness. Most recently, Ben was a Founding Partner and former CEO of Crunch Franchising, a company he steered for 15 years from a startup into a billion-dollar business.

We discussed his journey, and what made him decide to run for governor. We also discuss Maine’s economy, property taxes, housing, education and other major issues facing the state into the future.

Watch the full interview, including interviews with other candidates, on our Substack and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK: https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/the-candidate-ben-midgley

SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2U4LL5NFWQcXXSEzAgNX6k?si=1dc40321bd234d65

Listen to Ben's "Final Pitch" on WGAN Morning News:
https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-ben-midgley/

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight Republican candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=MoHi2BPzHwEa1yX1
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"I'm going to live by the policies that I myself implement here in the state, and I think we need a governor who has stake in the game for the future."
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Garrett Mason is a 2026 Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate, businessman, and former Maine State Senator.

In 2010, at just 25 years old, Garrett ran for the Maine State Senate and defeated an 18-year incumbent by 11% of the vote. He served eight years representing Androscoggin and Kennebec Counties and was twice elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as Senate Majority Leader, becoming the youngest Majority Leader in Maine history at age 29.

After leaving the Legislature, Garrett built and grew businesses in public affairs, crisis management, and real estate.

Earlier this year we sat down with Garrett to discuss his campaign, his background, and his candidacy. Watch the full interview, including interviews with other candidates, on our Substack and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK: https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/the-candidate-garrett-mason

SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UObMCONcaD9nFI6KeBpME?si=5a25917537ef4af9

Listen to Garrett's "Final Pitch" on WGAN Morning News: https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-garrett-mason/

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=MoHi2BPzHwEa1yX1
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"I'm not one to sit there and say 'David Jones knows it all,' but David Jones listens, and David Jones continually learns."
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David Jones for Governor, a well-known real estate broker and businessman, is a 2026 Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate.

David sat down for an interview with Maine Policy Institute to talk about his unique story, and why he thinks he is the best candidate for governor in 2026. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, including his personal history, his thoughts on the last seven years of the Mills administration, and what he thinks is necessary to create a prosperous Maine.

Watch the full interview, including interviews with other candidates, on our Substack and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK:
https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/the-candidate-david-jones

SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Qk2z7Fyke7Ficth6e7pBL?si=a7618a89224d49c3

Listen to Jones' "Final Pitch" on WGAN https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-david-jones/

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=MoHi2BPzHwEa1yX1
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"I have built my life making systems work at scale."
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Jonathan Bush for Maine is a 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate. He is also a technology entrepreneur, best known as the cofounder and former chief executive officer of athenahealth, a healthcare technology company he founded in 1997. Here, Bush provides his closing remarks at our Gubernatorial Debate in March.

Earlier this year, Bush sat down with Maine Policy to discuss his personal history, including his business ventures, service in the military, personal challenges, and his reasons for jumping in the governor’s race. We also talk about the state’s spending addiction, the broken healthcare market, explosive housing costs, energy and our failing education system.

The June 9 primary is next week. Watch or listen to the full interview with Bush, as well as all other Republican candidates, on our Substack and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK: https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/the-candidate-jonathan-bush

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qwJnR4uFN2szKOkbV4udr?si=da4ccb1e73ee4dc5

Listen to Bush's "Final Pitch" on WGAN Morning News: https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-jonathan-bush/

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=MoHi2BPzHwEa1yX1

"The state I am now living in is fundamentally different from the state that I grew up in."
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Bobby Charles is a 2026 Maine gubernatorial candidate. As part of our candidate interview series on our Pine Tree Pulse Podcast, Charles sat down with us to discuss his background and his three main campaign promises: cutting crime, cutting taxes, and a leading a no-nonsense government. We also spoke about education, the cost of living, and more.

The June 9 primary is next week. Listen to the full interview with Bobby Charles, as well as interviews with other candidates, on our Substack and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK:
https://mainepolicy.substack.com/p/the-candidate-bobby-charles

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1SwUjtNd0fsxxA9yyjGYMm?si=b30df79425e84a4d

Listen to Bobby's recent "Final Pitch" radio segment on WGAN Morning News: https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-bobby-charles/ (also available on the Newsradio WGAN podcast on Spotify)

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=MoHi2BPzHwEa1yX1
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"I have an entrepreneur's ability to envision the future, describe it, and rally people towards it."
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Owen McCarthy (Owen for Maine) is an entrepreneur and 2026 Maine gubernatorial candidate.

Owen is originally from Patten and describes himself as the son of “a third-generation logger and a second-generation lunch lady.” He is a University of Maine graduate, and is the co-founder of MedRhythms, a company pioneering FDA-approved technology to help people regain mobility after a stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease.

As part of our candidate interview series on our Pine Tree Pulse Podcast, we discussed his backstory, what motivated him to run for governor, and what he wants to do as governor to make permanent change in Maine.

The June 9 primary is next week. Listen to the full interview, as well as interviews with other candidates, on our Substack, YouTube, and Spotify pages.

SUBSTACK:
https://mainepolicy.substack.com/t/2026-gubernatorial-interviews

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttvRxtbVKno

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PfMWlKnsznzOtcscaywiY?si=e5adb998ccf044c2

Listen to Owen's recent radio segment on WGAN Morning News: https://wgan.com/morning-news/final-pitch-owen-mccarthy/

Watch our 2026 Republican Gubernatorial Debate with all eight candidates: https://youtu.be/P5vXz5P0vFY?si=1N2W-Bem-l_prhBD
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"This is what fatigue looks like."

At an event this week, titled "What is Going to Happen?", Maine Policy Institute CEO Matthew Gagnon presented some data from a recent poll that demonstrate current sentiment among Maine voters about Janet Mills and where Maine is heading.
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