A desperate Bobby Charles casts around for clout | Steve Collins
Maine GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bobby Charles Schedules Town Hall With Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Lewiston, Maine – Republican candidate Bobby Charles, whose 2026 gubernatorial campaign has struggled to gain traction, will host a town‑hall meeting with former New Jersey governor Chris Christie on September 23 in Lewiston. The event will focus on “important issues facing Maine and the future of our state,” according to a statement posted by Charles on Instagram.
The meeting is part of a broader strategy by Charles to tap Christie’s reputation for handling the opioid crisis. Christie, who served as governor of New Jersey from 2009 to 2018, is credited with pushing through legislation that created a treatment‑focused framework for opioid addiction and expanded prevention and education efforts. In his remarks, Christie will discuss how New Jersey’s approach—emphasizing addiction treatment and expanding access to naloxone—could be adapted to Maine’s needs.
Charles’s decision to invite Christie follows a period of political isolation for the former New Jersey governor. Christie had been a close ally of Donald Trump in 2016, even coming close to being the GOP’s vice‑presidential nominee that year. The relationship soured after Christie urged Trump to concede the 2020 presidential election, after which the two had not spoken. Christie entered the 2024 Republican presidential primary as a critic of Trump but withdrew before the primaries began. His popularity among the MAGA base has since dwindled.
In announcing the town hall, Charles highlighted the opioid crisis as Maine’s “most unprecedented crisis.” He attributed the problem to “negligence on the part of the current leadership” in Maine, a claim that contradicts recent state data. According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, overdose deaths peaked at 723 in 2022 and have declined to 390 in 2025—a trend attributed in part to Governor Janet Mills’s administration expanding addiction treatment and naloxone access.
Charles has also criticized the current Democratic leadership. He said Democrats “don’t care” and “have given up on many of the opportunities they had” to prevent opioid deaths. The comments echo a 2016 veto message from former Republican governor Paul LePage, who said naloxone “does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose.” The veto was overridden by the then Democrat‑controlled legislature.
In response, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree has emphasized Maine’s progress on the crisis. “Maine has faced this crisis head‑on, but we still have work to do,” Pingree said in a recent social‑media post. She urged residents to “share what’s working, address what’s not, celebrate recovery, and follow through with real action, not just talk.” Pingree’s approach has included expanding treatment options and building on measures first implemented in New Jersey.
The town hall in Lewiston will bring together supporters of both candidates and local officials to discuss policy options. Christie will be the first former U.S. president’s former ally to appear in a Maine gubernatorial campaign event since the 2016 election. Whether the collaboration will alter the course of Charles’s campaign remains to be seen, but it underscores the broader political realignment taking place in the state.
