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Campaign 2026: Maine 2nd Congressional District Debate
Confirmed
In Short: Maine's 2nd Congressional District candidates will debate on Oct. 26.
Maine's 2nd Congressional District candidates, incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree and Republican nominee Ron Russell, will face off in a single debate on Oct. 26, just days before the Nov. 7 election.
The debate, hosted by Maine Public, NewsCenter Maine, and the Portland Press Herald, will be moderated by WMTW anchor Jon Chrisos and broadcast live on WMTW Channel 8.
Russell's campaign said they had proposed a later date, but the final date was set after the news organizations returned with Oct. 26.
The race is a rematch for the seat Pingree has held since 2009, after Russell lost by over 20% of votes in 2024.
Dunlap, the Democratic nominee, had previously called for four debates across the sprawling district, but the final format was set with a single debate.
Paul LePage, the Republican nominee, and Dunlap, the Democratic State Auditor, will participate in the debate.
The debate will begin at 7 p.m. and air on television, radio, and online, with streaming available through WMTW’s website, YouTube channel, and Very Local platform.
WABI will also host a debate on Oct. 26, with the full debate available on WMTW-TV's YouTube channel.
The compressed debate schedule is part of an unusually packed month of televised debates in Maine, including four meetings between Republican U.S. Senate candidates.
The debate will provide voters with a final opportunity to hear directly from the candidates before casting their ballots on Nov. 7.
What this adds
The debate schedule for Maine's gubernatorial race begins the same week, with back-to-back debates on Oct. 5.
What's confirmed
- The race is a rematch for Maine’s 1st Congressional District, after Russell in 2024 lost by over 20% of votes to Pingree, who has held the seat since 2009.
What's still developing
- “I look forward to taking the debate stage, speaking directly to Maine voters about the issues that matter most and making clear what’s at stake in this election,” Pingree said.
- Collins announced in August that she had accepted four debate invitations and pushed for the first meeting to occur in September, before early voting.
- Jackson pushed for town hall-style events that would allow voters to question the candidates directly, while Collins’ campaign said it had not agreed to the format proposed by Jackson.
- Charles initially challenged Pingree and Bennett to five longer, issue-specific debates around Maine modeled after the Lincoln-Douglas format rather than the shorter answers typically required in televised debates.
- The debate schedule becomes even more compressed in Maine’s closely watched U.S.
- Both candidates participated in an hour long debate hosted by WMTW Thursday night.
- He served as the mayor of Waterville (2004-11) before serving two terms as Maine governor (2011-2019).
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