in their own words.

Click the buttons to read each candidate’s responses to our questions.

Methodology

As part of our voter education work, the Maine Women’s Lobby invited all candidates for statewide office (Governor and Congress) to participate in a conversation with our team about issues affecting women and gender-expansive Mainers. Our Board approved a set of questions that cover each of our core issue areas. Every candidate received the same invitation with information about the issue areas, and all questions in advance. Every conversation included members of our staff and Board, and Board members had the opportunity to review the full transcripts. Our team used these conversations to create public-facing profiles for each candidate, designed to help voters understand each candidate's position on gender equity issues, and to reflect a fair and accurate reflection of the candidate’s statements. 

What can I learn from this voter guide?

Our goal with our candidate profiles is to provide voters with clear, direct information about how candidates are approaching key gender equity issues, in the candidate’s own words. The conversation and profile will cover candidate opinions and positions on all of our core policy priority areas on women’s health, rights and economic security.

How did these conversations work? What questions did you ask?

Our candidate conversations took place between March and April 2026. They consisted of Zoom interviews with each participating candidate conducted by Maine Women’s Lobby staff and board members, all utilizing the same set of identical questions derived from our four core policy areas: building care infrastructure and economic equity, ensuring reproductive and gender-specific health care, ending gender-based and carceral violence and developing equitable and accessible government systems. A full list of all questions can be found by clicking here.

Why doesn’t every question appear on each candidate’s page?

While every candidate was asked the same set of questions, our profiles highlight what we believe are each candidate’s most compelling or noteworthy responses, rather than publishing their full responses on every question. Full transcripts of each conversation can be found by clicking here.

Are you a candidate who missed our initial invitation? We'd still love to host you for a conversation! Please email Info@mainewomen.org