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Hannah Pingree · Newsradio WGAN

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  So we want to welcome Hannah on to the program.
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  Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
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  How are you? Yeah, Good morning, Matt.
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  It's not that I'm counting. I think it's about 27 days until
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  the June 9th elections. You know, I think it's really
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  important when you run for any office, but especially running
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  for governor, go to every part of the state, show up and listen
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  to people and see what's on their mind.
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  And I will say as I travel to state, people are pretty fired
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  up about this president and affordability issues.
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  Those are the two top things that I've heard in every part of
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  Maine. I was just out of Washington
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  County a couple weeks ago. We were talking about, you know,
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  young people not affording a house anymore, property taxes,
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  real concern about energy prices, diesel prices.
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  I got a lot of friends who are fishermen who are really
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  concerned about this fishing season, the cost of health
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  insurance, availability of insurance, worry about rural
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  hospitals. You know, people are stressed
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  right now and but they want optimism.
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  They want to know, OK, Maine is a wonderful state.
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  How do we ensure at the state that we can afford to stay, that
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  our kids are well educated, that we actually get things done?
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  So I love traveling Maine. I've we've been to every county.
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  We're now in the last 27 days and I really do think running
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  for office is about showing up. So you're in a Democratic
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  primary right now and you have 4 main competitors in that race.
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  You know, as an observer who tries to watch all this stuff,
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  I'm listening to you guys do your debates and whatnot, and
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  I'm myself trying to pick out, you know, how everybody is
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  different than what makes, you know, one person distinguished
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  in this area and versus another. What is the thing that makes
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  Hannah Pingree stand out from the rest of that crowd?
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  Yeah, we've had a pretty friendly debate, especially
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  compared to the other side. And honestly, I think ranked
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  choice voting helps that. You know, we are all in it for
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  the right reasons. I think everybody wants to make
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  a difference for Maine. You know, I'm a mom of two
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  teenage kids. I have a unique experience in
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  that I've, you know, lived in a very small rural community,
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  raised two kids and chaired my local school board.
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  But I've also served as speaker of the House.
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  I've also worked in state government.
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  I think I'm the person who has spent the most time actually
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  trying to make a difference for Maine people.
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  A lot of people talk about how do you bring people together to
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  get things done? I mean, I worked with Republican
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  leader Josh Hardy to pass bipartisan budgets.
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  I worked with Billy Bob Buckingham on the largest storm
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  recovery package in state history.
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  And how do we actually prepare our working waterfronts for the
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  storms of the future? So I am running on a platform of
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  we really need to get done things done for main people.
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  We need housing we can afford. We need healthcare we can
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  afford. And I'm the only candidate
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  running who has actually done those things.
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  Hannah Pingree joining us. She's Democratic candidate for
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  governor of Maine in 2026. You had mentioned in the outset
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  in the introduction there that you were talking an awful lot
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  about the president and affordability as it relates to
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  the issues that you're citing, right?
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  Like, housing is a big one, energy is a big one.
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  What not? It's inescapable, of course,
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  that the Democrats have had control of Maine State
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  government for eight years here. And many of these problems seem
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  to have kind of sunk in and gotten more intractable.
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  If you are talking to maybe a general election audience right
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  now instead of the primary audience, how do you answer a
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  criticism that's that is levied that says you guys have had your
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  chance and it hasn't really happened?
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  What do you think about? You know how you fix these
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  problems now? Yeah, I mean, obviously people
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  want things to get done and they actually don't really care what
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  party does it. And I will say, you know, I to
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  the general audience, I would say people are pretty fired up
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  about this president. We've seen a, you know, 50%
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  increase in fuel prices, diesel prices, gas heating oil up in a
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  rustic county. People really still worried
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  about how do they fill up the kerosene tank.
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  So I think it's, it's not about party.
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  And you know, we have seen challenges.
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  Certainly we got to do a lot more on housing.
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  I'm proud of the progress we've made on housing, but we need to
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  build much more housing so young people can stay in the state of
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  Maine. And we've learned somewhat how
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  to do it. We've realized private equity is
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  coming in buying up mobile home parks.
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  We need to put a stop to that. We have started to fund Co-op so
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  mobile homeowners can actually buy up their parks themselves.
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  But on every single issue, whether it's energy or
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  healthcare or housing, we've made some progress.
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  But, you know, I think we need to go much, much faster.
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  We need to make it easier to build housing.
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  You know, the president has cut huge money out of Medicaid and
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  Medicare. That is going to be a struggle
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  for our rural hospitals, for our healthcare system.
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  I'm one of those families on the ACA.
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  We saw our health insurance triple.
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  These are challenges. And I'm going to blame some of
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  them on the president or a lot of them on the president the
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  next governor is going to have to deal with.
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  So I think Maine people, they understand that it is actually,
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  you know, it is time for the parties to work together.
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  It's time to stand up to this president to actually get things
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  done, and they want somebody who actually knows how to do that.
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  When you get to get to something like energy though, I mean,
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  that's a, that's undoubtedly something that has been
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  negatively affected by the last say four or five months of
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  whatever's been happening with Iran and whatnot.
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  But that is a problem that goes back quite a bit further though,
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  right? I mean, that's, that's been a
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  challenge for Maine for a long time and it seems to have been
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  accelerating. And in terms of how bad it's
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  been, can you talk to me about like, some of the root causes of
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  why that's happening beyond just, you know, the most recent
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  version of the spike? Sure, sure.
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  Yeah. I mean, I think we we do have to
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  make significant long term investment in our energy grid
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  and alternative energy sources to actually bring down and
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  stabilize the cost of energy for the state of Maine.
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  We need to have, we used to have lower energy costs and other New
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  England states. We need to get there for
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  business competitiveness so families can afford their bills.
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  And I think that there are good ways to do it.
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  I mean, the chamber actually just put out a report saying,
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  you know, we need to continue to electrify because we have a very
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  big aging grid and not enough people to pay for it.
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  We need to find alternative ways, not on the backs of
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  ratepayers to upgrade our grid. And then we also need to keep
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  investing in energy sources that aren't reliant on very expensive
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  natural gas. The two main drivers of the
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  price of electricity in the state of Maine are high natural
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  gas prices and huge storm recovery costs.
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  And we know these huge storms that they keep coming and we are
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  not ready for them. So we actually need to find
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  alternative ways to invest. I propose that we should cap the
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  rate of return for our largest utilities.
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  We need to pay them for performance, not just to
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  continue to build out our grid and we need to keep investing in
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  clean energy, but at a lower cost.
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  I would say we have a tremendous opportunity up in Aroostook
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  County to build a huge wind project that will create jobs,
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  create some property tax up in Aroostook County, but actually
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  lower energy costs. And it's going to take work to
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  get that done. And I think we do need to move
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  faster with DEP permitting, how we get those things to the PUC,
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  making sure Mainers get a good deal.
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  But we have some opportunities coming up.
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  And I obviously, I think it's incredibly important we lower
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  energy for both businesses and for Maine people.
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  Another one that I hear an awful lot about from folks who who I
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  talk about, no matter what their party is, is the issue of
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  education. Obviously, that's one that has
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  been of great concern to many parents across the state, and
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  it's been something that's been sort of sliding backwards and
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  not really having the results that people have wanted for
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  several years now. Can you tell me a little bit
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  about what may ale the education system in Maine right now, like
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  what what is exactly the issue and how can it be corrected and
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  fixed? Do you have any sort of plan
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  related to that? Yeah, absolutely.
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  I mean, again, I'm a mom of a 13 and 15 year old and I'm not a
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  teacher, but I got a lot of respect for teachers who are
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  working really hard right now. We are.
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  We have seen a drop in test results and I don't think it's
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  acceptable. I think we need investment in
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  education. A lot of schools are struggling
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  to attract teachers. You've you hear the property tax
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  fights playing out all over the state of Maine.
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  I think we need to continue to bolster the way in which we fund
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  education, not just on the backs of property taxpayers, but
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  diversifying the sources that both communities and the state
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  have to actually pay for education.
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  But we clearly need a real investment in the kinds of
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  reading and math programs that work, especially in elementary
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  school. You know, we know our kids are
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  struggling. A lot of families are having
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  challenges. Mental health challenges have
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  been plaguing our kids. We need investment in those
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  programs, but we need investment in programs that we know teach
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  kids how to read in the right way.
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  And again, I was on a school board, you know, about 10 years
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  ago and all the trends of these different reading programs came
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  about. We know there are programs that
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  work. We need to train every single
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  teacher in the state of Maine, give the resources to school so
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  they can actually implement those programs and then get our
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  kids back up to to grade level. And I think this is essential.
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  Maine only graduates 12,000 kids a year in the state of Maine.
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  We need every one of those kids to be ready for work, for higher
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  education, for whatever it is. And I, I mean, I've actually
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  also been talking a lot about engagement.
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  We are losing a lot of middle school and high school kids who
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  just are sick of school. And we know things like middle
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  school career and technical education, the trades, there are
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  so many good paying jobs that are going unfilled.
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  Engaging those kids at a younger level, at younger ages and how
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  they can be excited about school is really important.
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  And obviously everyone knows we have a lot of jobs going
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  unfilled and, and these kids, you know, whether you're a
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  plumber or electrician or a nurse, I mean, there's so many
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  jobs out there that we want our kids to be ready for.
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  Speaking with Hannah Pingree, who is running as a Democrat in
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  the 2026 gubernatorial primary. And we'll see whether or not she
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  makes it to the general election.
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  As a final question for you here, you know, I just wanted to
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  maybe have you have an opportunity to make your sort of
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  final pitch here. We've talked a little bit about
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  what differentiates you and your background.
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  You know, I know that you mentioned that you have a
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  history in Maine State government.
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  I'm sure most people know that you were Speaker of the House
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  for a time and whatnot. But, you know, just give me a
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  little bit more on sort of why you should be the choice not
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  only in the primary but in the general election.
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  And then make sure you drop that website and everything so people
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  can also get that as well. Just tell me a little bit more
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  here about your closing pitch. Sure, sure.
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  Well that Hannah for governor.com check it out.
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  We've got all kinds of plans, ways for people to get involved
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  last 27 days really important. So my closing pitch, I mean, I
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  grew up in a community of about 400 people and I still live
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  there today with my husband and two kids.
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  You know, I've I'm a mom, I've been a small business person.
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  I've been involved in public service nearly my entire life.
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  And when I traveled the state of Maine, people want leaders who
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  care about their communities and care about their neighbors.
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  Honestly, they're sick of the vitriol.
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  You know, they just want leaders who can get things done.
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  And I should grew up in an offshore island.
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  That's where I still live in my community.
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  If something bad happens, I mean, if you were sick or your
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  house is burning down, you're relying on volunteer
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  firefighters. You're relying on your local
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  neighbors who are EM TS. And we have to show up for each
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  other. And obviously we have a lot
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  going on with this president, but I actually think it's up to
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  us and our neighbors about how we solve of the problems for
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  Maine people, how we ensure we have housing and healthcare and
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  communities that people can afford to stay in.
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  And I think people want that sense of optimism.
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  I don't think they want to give up on each other.
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  And that is that is how I grew up.
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  That is who I am. I will never give up on the
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  state of Maine. I am really excited about our
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  state's future. We have critical challenges to
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  solve, but I actually think we can roll up our sleeves and
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  actually get it done. And that's what I've done in my
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  entire career. I have a lot of optimism for the
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  state of Maine. And so I'm ready to get the job
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  done. And I would be honored by
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  people's number one vote in this upcoming ranked choice primary.
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  All right, there you go. Appreciate Hannah Pingree
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  joining us here on the program this morning and thanks so much.
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  And make sure you visit the website if you want to learn
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  more, donate, can get involved, etcetera.
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  And we'll talk again very soon. Thanks a lot, Hannah.
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  Thanks, Matt. Have a great day have.
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  A good one.