Chellie Pingree

Maine’s four members of Congress are not saying much about how they voted in last week’s primary elections, which featured high-profile contests for governor, the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree have declined to broadcast their personal choices in plenty of past races not involving themselves. And a few of their picks in the June 9 primaries were safe to make assumptions about: King had publicly backed his son, Angus King III, in the Democratic gubernatorial race, while Pingree’s daughter, Hannah Pingree, ran in that same race.

Still, who the sitting members of Congress like or don’t like has relevance come November and beyond. Those staying in office will likely find themselves working with not only their fellow members of Congress but also Maine’s next governor.

The final results of the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District and both major party gubernatorial primaries had yet to be announced Wednesday as ranked-choice runoff tabulations continued.

Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is termed out of office this year. In the gubernatorial races to succeed her, the crowded Republican field had Leeds lawyer and former White House staffer Bobby Charles leading after the initial round, while former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah of Brunswick was leading the five-way Democratic field.

The two major party winners will also face independent state Sen. Rick Bennett, a former Maine Republican Party chair from Oxford, in the November election. (Bennett said Tuesday he cast a Democratic primary ballot, but did not reveal how he voted in each race.)

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The 2nd District race for the seat that Golden, a moderate Democrat who is not seeking reelection, has held since 2019 featured four Democrats hoping to advance to a November matchup against the Republican nominee, former Gov. Paul LePage.

In the Democratic stronghold that is the 1st District, Kennebunkport military veteran Ron Russell beat former car salesman Joshua Pietrowicz of New Gloucester in the Republican primary, and Russell will once again face Pingree after losing to her handily in 2024.

Collins, the state’s senior senator who was first elected in 1996 and faces her own high-stakes reelection battle this year against Sullivan oysterman Graham Platner, did not respond to a question sent to her campaign and office about how she voted in last week’s election.

Collins and LePage, who have had an uneasy relationship at times in the past, will be the big names on the GOP ticket in November. They projected unity while speaking at the Maine Republican Party’s convention in April. Though she hasn’t said who she favored in the gubernatorial race, Collins campaign spokesperson Shawn Roderick was in attendance for part of Charles’ election night party at Dysart’s in Bangor.

King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and who was Maine’s governor from 1995 to 2003, is not sharing his primary voting preferences, spokesperson Matt Felling said. However, he had publicly endorsed his son, who finished last in the Democratic gubernatorial contest with about 8% of votes.

Golden spokesperson Mario Moretto said the congressman from Lewiston voted but is “not planning to share his ballot.” The question of how Golden voted in certain races has bugged him over the years, particularly when he didn’t reveal his 2024 presidential choice but wrote an op-ed earlier that year predicting President Donald Trump would win.

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Among the four Democrats hoping to succeed him, State Auditor Matt Dunlap was likely not Golden’s top choice, as Dunlap had launched a primary challenge against Golden last fall before the incumbent opted against seeking reelection.

State Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, led the 2nd District field after the initial round and had the support of the national House Democratic campaign arm. Former Capitol Hill staffer and Lewiston native Jordan Wood was not far behind Dunlap and Baldacci, while Old Town social worker Paige Loud finished last with about 10% of the vote.

Pingree, the North Haven progressive who first won election to Congress in 2009, also did not share how she voted in the primary. Her daughter, Hannah, a former Maine House speaker and Mills administration official who earned an endorsement from Mills, was hoping to move past Shah in the runoff after finishing second in the initial round.

That first round saw Shah receive nearly 27% of the vote to about 23% for Pingree, 21% for former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash and about 20.5% for Secretary of State Shenna Bellows of Manchester.