The 1994 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1994 to elect the

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

. Incumbent Republican governor John McKernan was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Angus King Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician who has served since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Maine. A Independent politician, political independent, h ...

won the election. King defeated Democratic nominee, former governor and congressman Joseph Brennan, Republican nominee

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of ...

, a regional coordinator of the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

, and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

nominee Jonathan Carter, an

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

activist. Ed Finks, as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

, received in 1.29% of the vote. This was the first election since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

that Maine elected an independent governor. Both King and Collins have represented the state's delegation in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

since 2013.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Tom Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy * Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England ...

, former Mayor of Portland * Richard Barringer, former Director of Public Lands in Maine *

Joseph E. Brennan Joseph Edward Brennan (November 2, 1934 – April 5, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 70th governor of Maine from 1979 to 1987 and in the ...

, former Governor and former U.S. Representative from the 1st congressional district *Donnell Carroll * Robert Woodbury, former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Mary Adams, tax activist * Pamela Cahill, state representative *

, businesswoman and former Deputy Treasurer of Massachusetts * Judith Foss, state representative *

Sumner Lipman Sumner H. Lipman was an American politician and attorney from Maine. Lipman, a Republican from Augusta, Maine, served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1991 to 1994. Lipman sought the Republican Party's nomination for governor in 1994. ...

, attorney and state representative * Charlie Webster, state senator *Jasper Wyman, leader of Maine Christian Civic League and businessman *Paul R. Young

Results

General election

Brennan easily dispatched his challengers in the Democratic primary, while Collins triumphed in a crowded GOP field. As a moderate, Collins was subjected to attacks from the right wing of the Republican Party, who claimed she was too liberal. She was also criticized for her residency; despite being a Maine native, she had lived and worked in Massachusetts and only returned to Maine shortly before launching her gubernatorial campaign with the support of Senator

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

. Her closest opponent had been

, the preferred candidate of incumbent governor John R. McKernan Jr.. King made heavy use of campaign ads, including running them during the primary season despite not being subjected to a primary as an independent candidate. The state's two largest newspapers split their endorsements, with Brennan receiving the endorsement of the ''Portland Press Herald'' and Collins the ''Bangor Daily News'', while the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, a gun group, endorsed King. King would narrowly win over Brennan, with Collins and Carter lagging behind. Collins and Brennan would face off again for Cohen's Senate seat in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, with Collins winning. King would be re-elected in a landslide in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. After a decade outside of political office, King would be elected to the U.S. Senate in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. King and Collins continue to hold Maine's two Senate seats to the present day.

Candidates

(Independent), lawyer * Joseph Brennan (Democratic), former U.S. Representative from the 1st congressional district *

(Republican), businesswoman * Jonathan Carter (Green), environmentalist and scientist

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Independent

* Androscoggin (largest city: Lewiston) *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

(largest city:

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

) *

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(largest town:

Rumford Rumford may refer to: People * William Byron Rumford (1908–1986), California politician * Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753–1814), American-British-German inventor, scientist, soldier, and official * Kennerley Rumford (1870–1957), E ...

)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Independent

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

(largest town: Farmington) *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

(largest city: Waldoboro) * Knox (largest municipality: Rockland) * Sagadahoc (largest town:

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

) *

Waldo Waldo may refer to: People and fictional characters * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer), Brazilian footballer Waldo Machado da Silva (1934–20 ...

(largest city:

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

(largest town:

Biddeford Biddeford ( ) is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddefo ...

)

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20130917225045/http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/1994g/gen94ga.htm {{US Third Party Election

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...