Bobby Charles is set to talk with critics next week. You can be one of them.
Bobby Charles, the Republican candidate for governor, speaks at an event in Lewiston where former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed him on Sept. 23. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles said Thursday he is inviting voters, especially “people who do not support” him, to sit down with him at an event in Auburn next week and ask him anything.
The 66-year-old Leeds lawyer said the format of the Oct. 29 event at the Androscoggin County Republican Committee’s headquarters in the Auburn Mall is “simple”: Charles will sit at a table, a voter will sit across from him and the two will talk, with the voter welcomed to ask “tough questions” or “challenge his positions.”
“I’m inviting people who disagree with me to sit across from me and ask anything,” Charles said in a statement. “You can tell me I’m wrong. To my face.”
It is a move by the Republican to project openness in the closing stretch of a gubernatorial contest to succeed Gov. Janet Mills that former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, a Democrat, is expected to win.
Pingree, a 50-year-old North Haven resident who helmed Mills’ policy office and is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, has consistently led Charles, who previously worked in drug enforcement and domestic policy roles under former Presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, by double digits in polling of the race. Independent Rick Bennett, a 63-year-old former Maine Republican Party chair and state senator, has been well behind those two in polls.
A news release from the Charles campaign said he “especially welcomes people who do not support him” to the Auburn Mall event that will go from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is free, with no registration required. Charles is holding “as many one-on-one conversations as time allows,” the release said.
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He specifically invited “Hannah Pingree supporters, Kamala Harris voters, Gen Z liberals, frustrated Democrats, undecided independents and Somali immigrants.”
Charles rose quickly to the top of a crowded Republican primary field in June in part by pitching himself as an outsider who supports many of President Donald Trump’s policies. But in the general election, he has noticeably attempted to back away from Trump and some of his positions while portraying himself as a more independent-minded figure.
His rhetoric has at times drawn both Democratic and Republican rebukes during the primary and general portions of the race. Last year, for example, Charles referred to state Rep. Deqa Dhalac, a South Portland Democrat who immigrated to the U.S. from Somalia more than three decades ago, as a “radical Somalia-first” lawmaker, drawing criticism.
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Charles invited voters to visit an optional registration page for next Thursday’s event at secure.winred.com/bobby-charles-for-maine/disagree-event.
“If you think I’m wrong about something, tell me. If you’re skeptical of my plans, challenge me,” Charles said. “If there’s an issue you think I’m overlooking, let’s talk about it.”
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Tagged: bobby charles, election 2026, governor's race 2026
Billy covers politics for the Press Herald. He joined the newsroom in 2026 after also covering politics for the Bangor Daily News for about two and a half years. Before moving to Maine in 2023, the Wisconsin. More by Billy Kobin
