Larry Sabato, a national recognized election analyst and Director of the the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics has put Governor LePage’s re-election on “red alert…in which the incumbent party is, at best, a tiny favorite to hold the seat.”
Sabato lists a number of potential challengers that have been rumored to be Democratic candidates including both sitting Congressmen Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, former Governor John Baldacci, departing SBA Head Karen Mills, former Maine Speaker Hannah Pingree and current Speaker Mark Eves.
The 2014 race is officially listed as a toss-up and Sabato writes:
Maine: Gov. Paul LePage (R) is running for reelection, and independent Eliot Cutler is taking another crack at the governor’s office after falling just short in a three-way race in 2010. So what do the Democrats do? Should one of their top contenders, such as Reps. Chellie Pingree or Mike Michaud or ex-Gov. John Baldacci, jump in the race? Or should they essentially just step aside for Cutler and nominate a token challenger, much like they did in the 2012 Senate race, when independent, now-Sen. Angus King was the de facto Democratic nominee? For what it’s worth, Cutler did cut his teeth in politics as an aide to former Sen. Ed Muskie (D). A jumbled field is nothing new in a Maine gubernatorial race: Remarkably, a third-party candidate has won at least 9.3% of the vote in every gubernatorial election dating back to 1986.
The full analysis of all gubernatorial races up in 2014 can be found here.
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