Legislative Leadership, Elections, and Executive Branch Transition Update
Maine State Legislature and Leadership Update
The legislative caucuses met Thursday (11/5/26) and yesterday to select their leadership for the 133rd Legislature. The actual leadership elections for the House and the Senate will take place on December 2, 2026, when the 133rd Legislature convenes. On that day, the Legislature will elect the Speaker, the Clerk of the House, the Senate President, the Secretary of the Senate, and the constitutional officers.
The House Democratic Majority met Thursday to choose their leadership. As expected, they chose to continue their support for current Speaker of the House, Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) and current House Majority Leader, Matt Moonen (D-Portland). Fecteau will be serving his sixth non-consecutive term, his fourth as Speaker, and Moonen will be serving his seventh non-consecutive term, his fourth as Majority Leader.
In the only contested Democratic leadership election, progressive Ambureen Rana (D-Bangor) prevailed against Sue Salisbury (D-Westbrook) for the position of Assistant Majority Leader. Salisbury will be serving her fourth and final consecutive term and Rana will be starting her third term.
Rana served on the Appropriations committee in the previous session so her new role will leave another opening on the committee with only five current committee members possibly returning. However, one of those, Anne Matlack (D-St. George) is returning as a State Senator, and the two returning Republicans both ran to be the Republican House leader (see below). Therefore, not all of the five will even be returning to the committee, leaving a number of openings. We expect Rep. Drew Gattine (D-Westbrook) to return as the House Chair of Appropriations.
We must make one correction to our earlier election update. It is now clear that the House Republicans did pick up one seat previously held by Democrats in Lewiston. This is the seat left open by long serving Rep. Mike Lajoie. There may be a recount in this race, but the Republican, Kerryl Clemen, is up by 30 votes which is unlikely to be overturned. This means the Democrats have an effective majority of 90 seats with the 3 left leaning independents. House Republicans will have 61 seats.
House Republicans had multiple candidates for both their Leader and Assistant Leader positions. Rep. Ken Fredette (R-Newport) was elected Republican Leader. He had been the Republican leader in the past during the LePage administration and is starting his sixth term. Other candidates for that position were Rachel Henderson (R-Rumford), starting her third term, Jack Ducharme, (R-Madison) starting his fourth and final consecutive term, and Tracy Quint (R-Hodgdon) also starting her fourth and final consecutive term.
Fredette previously served on Appropriations, along with Ducharme. Henderson has a been an outspoken, well-reasoned and respected Republican leader on the Judiciary Committee. Quint currently serves on the Taxation Committee.
For Republican Assistant Leader, Alicia Collins (R-Sidney) was elected by her caucus. David Boyer (R-Poland) and Amanda Collamore (R-Pittsfield) were the other candidates. Collins currently serves on the Labor Committee and is starting her second term. Boyer is an outspoken libertarian starting his third term who serves on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. Collamore currently serves on the Housing and Economic Development Committee and is starting her fourth and final consecutive term.
As stated in the elections update, the leadership of the Senate Democratic Majority will remain the same as in the prior legislative session. Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) will remain Senate President for her fourth and final consecutive term in the State Senate. Both Senate Democratic Majority Leader Teresa Pierce (D-Falmouth) and Assistant Leader Jill Duson (D-Portland) will also return in their respective roles. They will both be serving their third term in the State Senate. Pierce currently also serves on the Education Committee and Duson on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. It is possible given that the Democrats now hold 24 seats in the Senate that neither Pierce nor Duson will serve on committees in the upcoming session.
The Senate Democrats have 14 incumbents returning, 5 current State Representatives returning as Senators, and 5 first-time legislators.
The Republican Senate Leader will remain the same with Republican Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Presque Isle) yesterday defeating Assistant Leader Matt Harrington (R-Sanford), both returning for their 4th and 3rd terms respectively.
Sen. David Haggan (R-Hampden) was elected as the Assistant Republican Senate Leader, defeating current House Republican Leader, Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), who won the Washinton County Senate seat. Stewart, Harrington, Haggan, and Joseph Martin (R-Rumford) are the only incumbent Republican Senators returning. The other 7 Republican Senators are current State Representatives.
Federal Update
As many of you will have seen in the news, current Auditor Matt Dunlap has conceded to former Governor Paul LePage in the Second Congressional District. With a deficit of over 5000 votes Dunlap has recognized that there is no mathematical possibility of him gaining enough second choice votes in the legally required ranked choice vote process that will proceed on Monday, November 9th in Augusta. Paul LePage will be one of only two Republican pick-ups in the House of Representatives nation-wide. The other is one of the gerrymandered seats in Texas.
Otherwise, the U.S. Senate is still at 54 Democrats and 44 Republicans with Mississippi and Alaska too close to call. The House is at 253 Democrats and 162 Republicans, with 20 seats too close to call.
Transition and Inauguration Update
Governor-elect Hannah Pingree has announced the leaders of her transition team and Inauguration. Roger Katz, a lawyer who served four terms as a state senator and was Augusta’s mayor, and Maulian Bryant, the executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and former ambassador for the Penobscot Nation, will lead a volunteer Transition Committee whose full membership will be announced in the coming days. The transition team will help Pingree choose her Cabinet and other high-level positions in her administration.
Scott Ogden, a former deputy chief of staff to Mills who also worked for U.S. Sens. Angus King and Olympia Snowe and for Pingree’s mother, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, will co-direct the paid transition staff. Former Portland Mayor Karen Geraghty will plan the January 6th inauguration.
Please reach out to Preti if you have any ideas for the next Administration that we can pass along to the Transition Team. Also, please connect with us if you have any interest in attending the Inauguration and Gala or have any other questions or suggestions you would like Preti to relay to them.
Preti will send out updates as we learn more about the Cloture deadline, and the make-up of Committees and Committee Chair appointments. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Preti team with questions, concerns, or updates and information.