FULL DEBATE: Pingree, Charles and Bennett face-off in CBS13/Fox23 Maine gubernatorial debate

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Maine's rugged coastline, like its people, has weathered many storms. But now an economic storm is hitting our shores. With high costs, battering family budgets and fueling frustration from energy to health care. While the American dream of owning a home for many stays out of reach. Faced with these challenges, three people say they're ready to lead. [00:00:23] Bobby Charles: I am sick and tired of all the things we're putting up with. In my view, a betrayal of trust. [00:00:28] Speaker 1: Republican Bobby Charles hoping to be the crashing wave against the Democratic establishment. While Democrat Hannah Pingree counters, the state needs a steady hand in the store. [00:00:37] Hannah Pingree: I know how to get things done, I know how to bring people together, but I also know how to fight back. [00:00:41] Speaker 1: And Independent Rick Bennett says it's time to chart a different course. Maine people are independent minded. Three candidates, one stage, no script. Welcome to the 2026 Maine gubernatorial debate. The showdown for the future of the state starts right now. Hello and welcome to what we're sure is going to be an informative and interesting evening. I am Greg Lagerquist and tonight we're hearing from the candidates for governor. They are of course Republican Bobby Charles, Independent Rick Bennett and Democrat Hannah Pingree. And of course, let's start with a warm welcome to you all. [00:01:12] Hannah Pingree: Thank you. [00:01:13] Speaker 1: Thank you. So the candidates are going to be debating a series of topics. Each of them will have a minute to answer each question, starting with the left or right. And we'll alternate who goes first. That'll be followed by rebuttal and discussion time. Now, our format encourages this discussion to really get at their differences. And time permitting, we do also hope to have a lightning round near the end of the debate. Okay, if we're ready to go, let's get right to it. Before our debate tonight, we had a random drawing to determine the order in which they would stand before you tonight and the order in which they would do their openings and closing statements. Based on that, we begin our debate tonight with Bobby Charles. You have one minute, sir. [00:01:47] Bobby Charles: Good evening. Leadership matters. A good governor is honest, compassionate, and competent. Honest. Is it honest to arrange an $840,000 grant to your own nonprofit, one that pays your husband, your sister, and her boyfriend? Look it up in thepingreefiles.com. Compassionate. Is it compassionate to give your island 60 times what Bangor got per capita and, in fact, 250 times what Lewiston got for affordable housing? Competent. Is it competent to triple our energy costs and property taxes, to double our crime and addiction, have our schools and child well-being ranked nationally at 50th? Hospitals closing. I ask voters a simple question. Are you better off today than you were eight years ago? If not, vote for change. And you can do that tomorrow. Leadership matters. All right. [00:02:48] Speaker 4: Thank you very much. And we next turn to Rick Bennett. You have one minute, sir, as well. Good evening. I'm Rick Bennett, and I'm the independent candidate for governor. I grew up in Yarmouth. My dad taught school. My mom worked retail. Karen and I live in Oxford, where my family goes back 200 years. When I first served in public office, I saw what government can do when it works for people. I came back in 2020 and saw how badly it fails when it doesn't. Housing, groceries, energy, health care. Mainers are doing everything right and still falling behind, and young people wonder whether they can afford to build a future here at all. This didn't happen by accident. It happened because the parties are more focused on fighting with each other than solving problems. I'm running to upend that system. Under my leadership, it will never be about what's best for Republicans or best for Democrats. It will be about what's best for Maine. [00:03:48] Speaker 1: All right. Thank you very much. And we turn to Hannah Pingree now. You have one minute as well. The floor is yours. [00:03:53] Hannah Pingree: Well, thank you, Greg. Thank you, everyone who is tuning in, who cares so much about the future of our state. Again, my name is Hannah Pingree. I'm the mom of two great teenage kids. I'm a lifelong Mainer. I was born in Belfast and spent most of my life in a rural community of just 400 people where everyone cares deeply about their neighbors. From chairing my local school board to serving as Speaker of the House, I've spent my entire career fighting for Maine families and working to deliver solutions. Mainers understand that we are at a pivotal time right now for our state and for our country. Governors are literally on the front line of our democracy, our voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBT rights, the rights of immigrants, our ability to keep taking action on climate and keep our rural hospitals afloat. At the same time, families are struggling with rising costs. Heating oil, property taxes, health care, housing. Mainers need a governor who will lower costs. I've spent my entire career fighting for Maine, working across the aisle to deliver solutions. And I'm ready to do that as your next governor. [00:04:55] Speaker 1: All right, thank you much. Very much. That concludes our opening statement. So let's get right into the issues. And we're having a lot of places we go at this point when it comes to affordability. Let's start with this though. Let's start with housing, something all of you have spoken about on the campaign trail, frankly, extensively. What's your plan day one when it comes to housing? How is it better than the other people we're seeing debating tonight? And is there anything you would do specifically for rural areas where construction is typically harder and slower? Again, we want to begin the question with Bobby Charles. You have one minute. [00:05:23] Bobby Charles: So I would just say Mills Pingree have killed the American dream. Most Mainers cannot afford a median house. It's a $30 billion problem. We're 80,000 units down. Hannah has suggested a 250 houses being built solves the problem with $100 million. I don't agree. What I'm going to do is roll back the burdensome regulations on builders. Number one. Number two. Use the tax code to accelerate manufacturing. Number three. Use the governorship to speed up permitting. Number four. Promote tax exemptions for first time home buyers, particularly those that are young and they're out there trying to pay rent right now. Reduce the next reduce the eventual eliminate and eventually eliminate the non citizens in our public housing. Mainers do not need gimmicks like a 250 house answer to a $30 billion problem. What they want is real housing. They want their housing to be available to them. And as governor, that will be a priority to me. [00:06:21] Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much. And the question about housing, we turn to Rick Bennett, please. [00:06:24] Speaker 4: Yeah, this is an issue that I hear about all across the state. I've been walking this state and I hear it from ordinary citizens. I hear it from business owners who can't find workers because the people can't afford to live near where the jobs are. So my plan is first, allow that American dream to flourish. We need to help people get into their first home. So I will provide down payments, reduced down payments for first time home buyers. Secondly, I'll provide direct mortgage support to help lower monthly payments so that people can get into those homes. Third, I'll expand the housing supply. We know we need thousands and thousands of more houses. Scarcity is a real problem. I will revive the factory-built housing industry, which in Western Maine was a heritage industry. I worked in that for six years. And I'll also repair the homes that we have. Many people live in substandard homes that need work. And finally, I will approve housing projects faster by conducting a statewide housing bottleneck audit to speed up approvals and get projects built faster. [00:07:28] Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much. And Hannah Pinger, we turn to you, the question about housing. [00:07:31] Hannah Pingree: Sure. We know that housing is fundamental to the future of Maine. If young people cannot afford to buy a house, if employers can't find workers because there isn't an affordable rent, nothing else works. I've worked on this issue as a young legislator in my own community and at the state level. I am proud that we now have more affordable housing under production than at any point in our state's history. But we do need to do much, much more. We do need to build 80,000 housing units by 2030. We didn't just take that number out of the air. That's how much housing we need for Maine's workforce. So what are we going to do? I propose investing $100 million a year in new housing production, rural rentals, senior housing, affordable homeownership, the infrastructure to connect that housing. We need to also stop private equity from buying up our affordable housing, whether it's a mobile home park or apartments. We need to do more. I think we need to cut the red tape. I want a 90 day shot clock at the state level to ensure that we can build housing more quickly. And we need to invest in innovation in the workforce that allows us to build all this housing. Again, nothing else works without housing that young people can afford. [00:08:36] Speaker 1: And let me go ahead and extend it. You chose not to, and that's certainly within your right to address what Bobby Charles said at the beginning of the question. His answer seemed to say that he wanted to blame you and the Mills administration. While you were in the Mills administration, housing, I believe, was under your purview. Would you like to address anything that Bobby Charles spoke about? [00:08:51] Hannah Pingree: Sure. Well, first of all, I will say Bobby is losing this race very badly by double digits, and that's why he continues to go after issues like lying about my husband, lying about my community. But much more importantly, I am proud of the work. I worked with Rick Bennett and others to actually pass legislation that allowed us to build housing more quickly. Allow people to do more of what they want on their own land, whether it's accessory dwelling units or more rural rentals all across the state of Maine. I do think we need to accelerate this work. Again, I'm proud that we've built a lot of housing, but it has given us the motivation to know that we need to do much, much more to tackle this challenge. Again, we have seen, like every other state in the country, the price of a home nearly double since 2020. That's difficult for property taxes. That is difficult for new home buyers. And we know that building more housing, more supply, is one of the things that will be crucial to bringing costs down. [00:09:43] Speaker 1: She mentioned Rick Bennett as part of her answer. Let me go to you next as opposed to going back to Bobby Charles. I will get back to you as well, Sarah. Let's go to Rick Bennett. Sure. My question is basically she says she's worked with you. Is that fair to say? And what do you say about the ongoing issues? [00:09:56] Speaker 4: You were obviously in the Statehouse during that. Yes. You know, I served back in the '90s in the early aughts and was elected president of the Senate. I returned in 2020 because our politics is deeply broken. Housing is an area where I've seen a lot of shared interests and a common solution. I've seen the Republicans say, okay, maybe affordable housing is part of the solution. I've seen Democrats say, maybe overregulation is part of the problem. So I think because of the nature of this problem, because it's statewide, I represent 14 towns in rural Maine to get to your first question. It is a problem in rural Maine. And I think that one of the solutions is to return to the heritage industry that we had in western Maine for so many years. We had five manufacturing plants. We're down to one because of the great recession. If we can get that moving again and get those homes building again, my plan is model on Colorado, a successful program there. We will build thousands of houses in Maine for Mainers in the rest of the state. [00:11:01] Speaker 1: Bobby Charles, you mentioned deregulation. Maine is already one of the only states in the country that doesn't regulate or license contractors. What other regulations are you talking about? [00:11:10] Bobby Charles: Yeah, let me just hit a little bit of what Hannah hit back at. I am not indicting her husband or her family for taking the money. I'm indicting Hannah for having been in charge of affordable housing and giving a grant to her island and to the nonprofit on which the tax records say she was the president and her family was getting money. Those are stubborn facts. And as John Adams said, stubborn facts are hard to deny. I would also note a very simple question. Where were you, Hannah? Where were you in the six and a half years that you were in charge of affordable housing and housing prices doubled? Average Mainers cannot make it. I've met with 30,000 Mainers. They are struggling. They are -- I met with Mainers just last week who are living in their car, a woman living with three kids in a car. It's not right. We've got to do better. The regulations are across the board. Any reg, and we've got hundreds of them, that blocks a builder from building right now quickly. The regs that we actually didn't have 10 years ago are the ones I'll roll back. All right. Let's give the final word on this topic to Hannah Pingree, please. [00:12:14] Hannah Pingree: Sure. I will just say, again, Bobby Charles continues to throw out lies about me and my community and my family, again, because he's losing badly. This is a guy who supported Donald Trump all along the way. We know that Donald Trump's tariff war, his war in Iran, is rising -- meaning rising costs for every Maine family. Part of the cost of building the state of Maine, part of the challenge we face, are these incredible tariffs, a trade war with Canada. These are things that Bobby has supported from day one. So again, we need a governor who can get the job done. I've worked across the aisle. I've worked with Republicans and Democrats and Independents to build more housing all across the state of Maine. And again, I think people want from their next governor, not somebody who will continue to name call, but somebody who actually knows how to get things done. And I'm ready to do that. [00:13:01] Speaker 1: I suspect we'll continue some of these same themes, but let's move on to our next topic. It also has to do with affordability, specifically around energy. Now, according to a recent federal survey, Maine is the fourth highest residential electricity costs in the country with fuel prices rising as well. Obviously, we've got winter ahead. What is your plan? Why is it better than the people standing next to you as well? We begin this one with Rick Bennett, please. [00:13:22] Speaker 4: Thank you. I hear about this everywhere I go as well. In fact, you know, Maine is very reliant on fossil fuels, on heating oil. We spend $4.5 billion exported out of this state every year, $3,300 per person, to bring energy to Maine, while we've got ample renewable resources right here in Maine that we should be taking better advantage of. My plan for energy is, first, reduce utility profits to lower delivery costs on electricity. Second, lower energy costs for our manufacturers and our heritage industries who are struggling right now. We can do that with special rate contracts and parts of the grid that where we've seen a loss and we have capacity without affecting negatively other rate payers. Third, we need to invest in increased efficiency and energy conservation. The best dollar you spend is the one you don't because you haven't spend it on energy. And finally, I'll create a new Maine generation authority to take control of our energy future on behalf of rate payers. Maine's governors haven't done a great job at this in ensuring that rate payers are put first. Our neighbors want what we have, which are renewables. And so my new Maine generation authority will ensure that we cut good deals for Maine rate payers. All right. Thank you very much. [00:14:40] Speaker 1: Hannah Pingree, your chance to answer a question on energy. Sure. [00:14:43] Hannah Pingree: Well, I will say right now we are faced with an energy emergency. Six dollar heating oil, diesel over six dollars a gallon, kerosene almost seven dollars. Maine people are very, very worried about just staying safe through the winter. On day one, the next governor needs to be ready to tackle this challenge, especially if Congress doesn't step up. We need to pass bipartisan emergency legislation to deliver emergency heating oil relief to Maine people just so they can stay safe in their homes. Beyond that, we just saw a report. Again, I will actually say that my opponent, Bobby Charles, has supported Donald Trump's war in Iran from the very beginning. The thing that has raised these oil prices for every single person across the state. We need to do much more around energy. I agree with a lot of what Rick just said. We are a state that is reliant on fossil fuels. We are the most reliant state in the country on heating oil. Getting our dependence off fossil fuels to other clean energy sources is a way to be energy independent, is a way to invest in good paying jobs and long term stability for Maine people. [00:15:44] Speaker 1: All right. Thank you very much. And Bobby Charles, same question. [00:15:46] Bobby Charles: I'm going to start with a little response here. I find it ironic that Hannah is an authority on Iran. I spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there is nothing in my fiber that wants us in a sustained engagement in Iran. And I do have big differences with the president, but, of course, they slough those over. I'm also not interested in the Democratic polls of Democrats to cause Republicans and independents not to vote. Trump is not on the ballot. Your property taxes and your electricity bills are on the ballot. So let me tell you, the Mills Pingree crowd have created the most convoluted, costly, illogical energy system in the entire country, which is why our costs jumped 36 percent last year, the largest in the country. I will do a number of concrete things. One, end solar and wind subsidies so your bills go down. Review the insider energy laws, 400 of them, that have raised prices so your costs go down. Reopen utility competition. Get cheap natural gas here. Uncap hydro. Take politics out of the utility commission, explore wood and biomass, and get small nuclear in this state. I also have asked both of my opponents to look into the camera and to ask the governor right now to reconvene the legislature and end or suspend the gas tax. It's all we can do. We can't control the international oil markets. We can help Mainers. And that's what I'm committed to. [00:17:10] Speaker 1: All right, I'm ready to move on unless anyone wants to respond to what Bobby Charles just said. All right, let's move on. Our next topic has to do with an issue looming over each of you, frankly. Whoever wins the Blaine House is going to have this on day one. Roughly a $1 billion projected budget shortfall. We want you to put numbers into your plan, too. What do you cut? What would you protect? What would you reform? And again, we begin this question with Hannah Pingree. [00:17:35] Hannah Pingree: So, again, my opponent, Bobby Charles, has proposed to cut $4 billion out of our state budget. That is more than half the state budget. The Republicans he ran against in the primary said it was completely outrageous and irresponsible. So we need a governor who is ready on day one to promote a balanced budget. I started in the legislature in 2003. I came in as a young freshman legislator on the Appropriations Committee. We had an over-billion-dollar shortfall, and we had to figure out how to work across the aisle to balance the budget. I think budgets are about priorities, and priorities are about our values. And I will do everything I can to ensure that we are investing in the things that Mainers care about. Housing, health care, education, property tax relief. But we're going to have to find ways to tighten our belt. So we're going to have to do both things. I have done it before. I am ready to do it again. I think Mainers most need property tax relief when it comes to our state budget. I believe that, honestly, middle- and low-income people in the state of Maine are already paying too much of their income in taxes. We need to find ways to shift the burden off year-round Maine people to the tourists and the visitors who are coming here in the summertime. I think there are ways to do it. There are ways to balance our budget doing it. It's a big idea, but I think we need to get it done. Thank you very much. [00:18:48] Speaker 1: And the same question about the looming budget gap to Bobby Charles. [00:18:51] Bobby Charles: I'm just going to point everybody to the looming budget gap. Hannah Pingree and Janet Mills drove this budget up almost $7 billion from a baseline of $7.2 billion, and a week ago announced we have an accidental $1.3 billion that we've overspent. The problem is that we are overspending. The waste, the fraud, there are public reports out there everywhere, have led to this state being essentially irresponsibly managed, mismanaged. So what am I going to do? And I think it's just classic politician. These are two long-time Pauls, and here's Hannah out there saying, "Yeah, your property taxes tripled and your energy costs tripled, but I'm going to show up and I'm going to fix it for you." You know, Hannah, where were you? This is the bottom line. You were there the whole time. What are we going to do? They're very simple. First thing, to lower the cost and also the income tax, we're going to ask each commissioner at the beginning to get 10 percent savings out of waste. I'll detail the rest of that later. On the property tax side, the gem in the ring is we're going to get $100,000 homestead exemption for every single Mainer, 100 percent reimbursed by the state. We have the offsets already identified. [00:20:04] Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much. Same question. [00:20:07] Speaker 4: Rick Bennett, please. Yeah, the dirty little secret here about the state budget is that nobody's minding the store. In fact, we've seen a 77 percent increase in the state budget over eight years because nobody has paid attention. Literally, the budget is a bill. All bills get public hearings except for this one. We haven't had a public hearing on the current services part of the state budget in six years. So, Bobby is right about the waste. We don't know where it is. We need to look. My team, day one, which will be the day after the election, will go in and start examining the budget line by line. I will appoint an inspector general working directly in my office as governor to ferret out any misdeeds, any whiff of misspending. Anything like that will be investigated and reported to the people of Maine immediately. It's critical. I think Hannah's also right to focus on property taxes. Both of these folks are focused on that. It's 36 percent of all state and local revenue. It is the largest single issue in revenue production in Maine, and people are feeling it very painfully. [00:21:18] Speaker 1: I do want to follow up with Bobby Charles for a moment, if I may, and then I'm going to send it over to Hannah Pingree. I see her signaling as well. To Bobby Charles, the -- we did see, we hosted a debate right here in our studio in May with the Republican primary candidates. They did criticize your plan at that time, your fellow Republicans saying they didn't think it was workable to both cut taxes and cut spending. That was, of course, even before we knew about the looming budget shortfall that we were expecting in the two-year budget after this. How do you respond to that? [00:21:43] Bobby Charles: Well, as I said then and I will say now, we're going to look for a billion dollars in the first year and go from there. If you want the concrete answer, the details, not only am I going to ask for 10 percent from each commissioner, a very logical and, frankly, very realistic number out of each agency. And remember, these are agencies that under Hannah Pingree and under Janet Mills went $6.44 billion higher than when they inherited them. The state, as far as I can tell, didn't double in size. It is really an atrocious mismanagement of the budget. So, is there waste there? Rick is right. I'm going to tell you. Rick and Hannah both pulled Democratic ballots. But Rick is an honest broker. And Hannah is telling you things that she was in charge of and now saying she's going to find a way to fix. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to end the sole source non-compete contracts. Impose a statewide hiring freeze. Downsize departments by attrition. Restructure the terrible DHHS and education structures which are wasting money. A top-to-bottom review of all departments. Review all suspect non-profits. End the non-citizen-seekers free housing, which was supposed to go to veterans. End solar and wind subsidies. End the New America's and Office of the Future program that Hannah ran for the governor. I mean, the future is here and it doesn't look very good. And we're going to save a billion dollars. That's one-sixth of what the Pingree Mills budget was. Very realistic. And, frankly, Mainers want those cuts so they can get their money back. All right, thank you. [00:23:08] Speaker 1: Hannah Pingree, let's extend to you as well. [00:23:10] Hannah Pingree: Bobby, Bobby talks on and on. But the reality is, is the next governor has to put forward a balanced budget. We are not in a budget shortfall. We are talking right now about a projected gap. And that is some agencies have asked for more money than we are going to have in January for the next governor to balance the budget. There's no choice but to put forward a balanced budget. And I will just say, when I was Speaker of the House, I was elected unanimously by Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. And I worked across the aisle with leaders like Josh Tardy to actually come up with bipartisan budgets. I do strongly believe that we need a consensus when it comes to our state budget. What are we spending money on right now? We're spending money on our hospitals and our health care system. We have gotten to 55% for education, which means more money for our kids and local property taxpayers. We have fully funded revenue sharing. These are things that Maine people are happy about. We need to find a way to sustain those programs, but also tighten our belt during a very difficult time. So, again, Bobby is selling a lot of snake oil, but the reality is the next governor is going to have to actually get it done. [00:24:12] Speaker 1: I saw Rick Signal and then, obviously, Bobby Trump. [00:24:14] Speaker 4: Yeah, look, for years, decades, actually, we had a tradition in Maine of passing the state budget, particularly the current services, on a two-thirds vote. As governor, I will restore that tradition. And I frankly think only an independent can do it in today's world. You know, we've seen one party rule in Augusta, and when I was president of the Senate, I was president when we had a tied Senate. We had an equal number of Republicans, Democrats, one independent. We made it work. We balanced the budget with both parties in the room. It's a longstanding tradition. It hasn't been done in six years, and that needs to change. It will on my watch. I've been, in the private sector, a CEO. I know what it's like to do things better, faster, smarter. We need to do that in state government. We can. There are ample opportunities to reduce the growth of spending, which is what we're talking about here. It's not just -- it's not cutting spending. It's reducing the growth so it's sustainable for Maine people. All right, let's move on. [00:25:17] Speaker 1: I was going to move on to the next topic, but obviously a chance to respond. I'm going to keep it tight. [00:25:20] Bobby Charles: Four points, and they go directly to Hannah. First, she talks about a consensus budget. Bull. The Democrats -- and Rick is right -- the Democrats have not done a consensus budget for years, and she was part of the administration that silenced half of this state. Two, I'll just remind people, Hannah was in charge of a lot of these things that have now grown in excess. Three, she says she'll balance the budget. That's no big promise. The Constitution requires that we balance the budget. There's nothing special there. And she says finally she'll tighten the budget. You have had six and a half years to tighten the budget, and you've doubled it. From 1820 to the beginning of Mills-Pengrey, $7 billion. $7 billion in just eight years. I'll tell you right now, this is like someone who takes your credit card, runs it all the way up, doesn't pay the bills, puts it back on you, and says, "Hey, can I have another credit card? I'm ready to go help and fix the problem." No, this is disingenuous. Mainers know it. And again, I come back to this point. Property taxes and energy are on the ballot this year. If you don't want more of this, make a change. [00:26:25] Speaker 1: Let's move on to, and again, plenty of chances to continue to talk about this. A follow-up, frankly, for all of you on that issue of fraud. We had it brought up. We've seen headlines. We've seen reports. We've seen federal allegations of widespread fraud within MaineCare. Is it a problem? How big is the problem? What do you do about it? Let's start with Bobby Charles. [00:26:42] Bobby Charles: Yeah, so the problem is enormous in MaineCare. Let's back up in time. The reason that we're facing a lot of this fraud, and it relates, again, to mismanagement, is that the Pingree Mills team accepted Medicaid expansion without funding it. So you've got a whole bunch of things happening at one time. Right now, we've got pressures on the healthcare system that are very hard for any hospital to manage. We may lose five more hospitals. We've lost one. We lost 12 birthing units. We lost 15 managed assisted care operations. We lost 75 home care operations. They're not paying the bills. They're literally not paying the bills on time. They just suspended here up in Bangor. They suspended payments for 12 weeks or 10 weeks. You can't manage a system that way. They're not paying the reimbursements at the rate that's required. The flip side of that is that they have a lot of fraud that has already been publicly disclosed. We have the IG from HHS who has already found $46 million in fraud. I am going to find all this fraud. I was a federal investigator. This is what I did for five years. We will find the fraud. We will return it to you, the taxpayer. Same question. [00:27:53] Speaker 4: Rick Bennett, please. You have one minute. Yeah, I think that there's no question that there's some fraud going on. No-bid contracts, lack of due diligence for major providers of healthcare across Maine. We need to get on a better path. And one example of this is that in the budget that the Democrats passed last year included a $100 million reserve fund to pay back the federal government for problems that they might find in state operating of Medicaid services. You know, what we've done in the legislature is wait every two years for the state auditor to show up and makes a report about what's working and what isn't working. We can't wait. Maine voters, Maine taxpayers deserve to know that their hard-earned money is being spent well. And that's why I will have an inspector general working for me directly in the office of governor who will investigate every credible claim, any whistleblower complaint about misspending, corruption, and badly spent funds. Maine people deserve to know that their money is being spent well. [00:29:03] Speaker ?: All right. [00:29:03] Speaker 4: Thank you very much. Same question. [00:29:05] Hannah Pingree: Hannah Pingree, please. Sure. I think every Mainer could agree that waste, fraud, and abuse is completely unacceptable. It's unacceptable to me, and it should be unacceptable to Maine people. We need to ensure that every health care dollar is being spent on health care. Again, whether it's nursing home care for your mother, care for a disabled family member, hospital services for people all across the state. And as governor, I will do everything in my power to ensure that's happening. I will say that this is an issue where Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have come to Maine, and they've made a lot of allegations. And I will say they are - some of them are disturbing. And we have seen people go to jail and get in serious trouble, and that's the right thing to do. But I will say that especially Bobby Charles has opposed Medicaid expansion, how 100,000 people in the state of Maine are getting access to our health care. We know that Donald Trump, the big, beautiful bill, is cutting funding for our health care system, our food programs, our energy programs, and they're going to make it difficult for the next governor to actually balance our next budget. And so, again, I think that Mainers need somebody who will roll up their sleeves, ensure that Maine people still have access to health care that they can afford, and they're not going to scapegoat people who are on the Medicaid program. [00:30:20] Speaker 1: And I do want to point out as a follow-up to all three of you, Bobby Charles mentioned the HHS report looking into, I think, the $46 million. I think that was specifically in the autism program. I think that the word fraud was not used at all in that report. It did indicate mismanagement, perhaps, or a lack of a paper trail for money. I'm not sure that's a whole lot better, but just for our viewers at home. Technically wasn't labeled fraud, I believe. So, let me address -- [00:30:42] Bobby Charles: Go ahead, follow-up. Let me address that. There is, by the way, just in the last week, another federal investigation into the state of Maine for waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid money. My point, my chief point, is that they have so fundamentally mismanaged what we call MaineCare, Medicaid money, that there is no way to get this system under control right now. Unless you shrink the system, go after the waste. I like the IG idea. It wouldn't report to the governor. You have to have one in every -- they're independent, so you have to have one in every agency. But Hannah Pingree is the poster child for fraud. I mean, she literally -- and for, frankly, self-dealing in conflicts of interest. The notion that she's going to be in charge of fixing what she broke is almost comical. She -- they have literally taken our MaineCare system, which was -- which was working back in 2020, and put us in a position where people can't get the access to the care that they want. 29 different people they have to go to to find a dentist who will accept MaineCare. The affordability isn't there, and the quality isn't there. As your governor, I am going to deliver those three stool legs -- quality, affordability, and access. You deserve that. [00:31:51] Speaker 1: And I'm ready to move on, but our rules suggest that, obviously, Hannah Pingree, you get a chance to respond to that. [00:31:55] Hannah Pingree: Sure. Again, I think that Mainers understand that Donald Trump has taken a huge hit to our health care system. Cuts to our Medicaid program. Cuts to our Medicare program. Cuts to our prescription drug programs. Cuts to the Affordable Care Act mean that thousands of Maine people can't afford their insurance. And the next governor is going to be holding the bag. That's why I put out a health care plan. I recommend you go check it out at hannaforgovernor.com. I believe that we need to invest in a public health insurance option so that Maine families who are losing access to insurance they can afford or small businesses have an option that they can actually afford. We also need to invest in primary care, maternity care, reproductive care. And I will just say, on this point, I'm running against Bobby Charles, who is an extreme anti-abortion MAGA extremist. He's somebody who doesn't believe in a woman's right to choose. The next governor will be making serious health care decisions for all of Maine people. And I think you want somebody who you can trust. All right. [00:32:54] Speaker 1: Obviously, normally, I do need to let Bobby Charles respond based on the conversation. [00:32:58] Bobby Charles: Listen, this is the way that you distort your own record. You distract. You mention Trump. You mention abortion. Because all the things people really are struggling with right now, she can't address because they're her record. I will tell you, if you're in the middle of a drinking game right now about the number of times Trump's going to be mentioned, I wouldn't advise driving home. Bottom line on this is it's not about Trump. It is about the fact that this state has been fundamentally mismanaged. And she says that I'm against late-term abortion, which 75% of this state are, and public spending on it. But I have talked with 30,000 Mainers, and what they are caring about, biggest, upfront and personal, is that they can't make it. So I'm going to ask you, you know, I know she hates it when people spew facts, but what is extreme? What is extreme is Maine's economy is 48 out of 50. Our property taxes, highest in the country. Our energy costs, number four in the country. Our schools and child welfare, which she was in charge of, are number 50. We have hundreds of kids dying of drug addiction. And we're putting, literally, we've got non-citizens taking money and boys and girls support. We need to move on at this point. Bottom line up front, that's extreme policy. I represent a return to normal, predictable policy. Let me extend this way. [00:34:12] Speaker 1: I'm going to actually move on to the next topic, but it segues right to Rick Bennett. It's about health care. You've already started talking about health care. We've talked about cuts. We've talked about the need for cuts. Health care, though, is a reality. The goal suggests that the majority of Mainers still worry about health care, about access, about rising costs. We've reported extensively here on CBS 13 and FOX 23 on everything from hospital closures, maternity care deserts, not enough dentists. What would you do, and how do you measure if it's working? Again, let's continue the conversation, but in that context, if we can, Rick Bennett. [00:34:40] Speaker 4: Well, at the outset, I just have to say this debate here, if you want to call it that, is exactly why we need independent leadership again in this state. The two parties aren't getting it done. They're good at doing what you just heard, fighting with each other, talking, you know, name-calling and all of that. We need serious leadership that involves everyone at the table to solve issues. Now, with respect to health care, my plans are very simple, but they're pretty daunting. As governor, first, I will pay our providers fairly and on time. It's a big problem when you're running rural health care and you're reliant on main care and you're not getting your payments in a timely fashion. Secondly, I will invest in preventive and primary care because that gives people healthier and it keeps them out of crisis and it actually lowers costs. Third, I'll launch a medical debt relief program. Forty percent of Maine families have medical debt and for most of them it's over $5,000 and it keeps them from going to get the health care they need. And finally, I will commit, finally, to a path to universal care for every Mainers. I don't, Mainer, we can't do it by ourselves. We can't wait for the feds. I would go for a regional approach and start the conversations with our neighbors in New England. Thank you very much. Hannah Pingree, same question about health care to you. [00:36:03] Hannah Pingree: We do live in one of the richest countries in the world with some of the poorest health outcomes. I agree with Rick. We need universal health care in this country. Health care is bankrupting families. It's making it harder to run a business. And where we are is not tenable for any state or any family. I'm a family. We are on the Affordable Care Act. We saw our insurance go from $700 a month last year to over $2,000 a month this year. We're going to see a huge rate increase at the end of this year as well. We know Mainers are losing access to coverage. That's why I propose a public insurance option. So that those Mainers who are losing access, small businesses, have an option that they can afford. We know that primary care is also a significant issue. Every Mainer needs somebody who cares about their health. Whether it's a primary care doctor, a nurse practitioner, or a public health worker. And right now many families can't find somebody just to help them navigate this health care system. This is about paying primary care doctors what they deserve. It is about recruiting folks into the workforce, especially in our rural areas. And also ensuring that our health care systems, our rural health care facilities, have a game plan. Right now it's a piecemeal system that's not working for anyone. Thank you very much. [00:37:13] Bobby Charles: And we go to Bobby Charles. Your answer, please. Two overviews and five points to a plan. Overview number one. Denial and deception by those in the administration now, the Mills Pingree administration, is not a strategy for solution. They have fundamentally -- ask any doctor, any nurse, any addiction services place, any nursing home -- they have not paid consistent with the reimbursement rates for the procedures. So, for example, in a birthing unit, you would have a $20,000 healthy childbearing operation. At the end of that, the state reimbursed. They set the rates. The feds don't. Donald Trump doesn't. They set the rates. You get $4,600 back. A birthing unit cannot keep going on that business model. Therefore, we've lost 12 of them. Second overview. Single payer. This idea that the government's going to control everything, which is what both of my opponents, who pulled Democrat ballots, both want to see happen. I believe in the private sector. I believe in the average person being able to afford good quality health care -- not health care they have to wait forever on -- and accessible health care. Putting the government in charge of everything is like DMV being in charge of heart surgery and cancer treatment. And that's one minute. We will raise the reimbursement rates, pay bills on time, and create an accountable health care system. Thank you very much. [00:38:29] Speaker 1: Rick Bentley, I see you want to respond. [00:38:30] Speaker 4: Well, yes. Just on this fixation that Bobby has about pulling a Democratic ballot. I'm an independent. 75% of independent voters in Maine this year decided to vote in the Democratic primary because there were more interesting options there. I've got to say, though, with respect to what Hannah said about the ACA, about the public insurance option, they don't deal with the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is costs. Our costs are too high. And just having a public insurance option doesn't deal with the cost issue. To deal with costs, we're going to need to look at the extractors in our health care system. Those who aren't dealing directly with the patient-provider relationship. The pharmacy benefit managers. The insurance executives. The other folks who are extracting lots of money, billions of dollars, out of our health care system and aren't actually delivering the goods. Primary preventive care, Oregon invested in it. They found that they saved $12 for every $1 they invested. That is the way. You keep people out of crisis, keep them healthier. And my goal as governor on health care will be to make Maine people the healthiest people in the country. [00:39:43] Speaker 1: We need to move on, if we may. Let's move on to education. I think we'll continue to hear some of the same things and themes we've been hearing. We could talk about state aid for education. We could talk about Maine student test scores, which remain low compared to the national averages. That's not the only sign of trouble, though. Our I-team has reported extensively on a crisis involving the actual buildings in which our students are learning. Bringing the price tag to fix all of those, replace all of them, hundreds of Maine schools that need it, would cost $11 billion, according to a recent report. What are your thoughts on that? What is your plan? We begin with Hannah Pingree, please. [00:40:15] Hannah Pingree: Sure. Well, I'll just say I'm the mom of two teenage kids in public school. I attended public schools myself. I spent nine years on a school board, several years as chair. I know how important our public schools are and ensuring that there are investments in them. I'd say right now in the state of Maine, our test scores are low. And it's not acceptable to me and it shouldn't be acceptable to anybody in the state of Maine. We know what's working in other parts of the country. The science of reading, evidence-based math programs. We need to ensure that every young person in the state of Maine is getting access to those skills. We know that in some school districts they are delivering and in other school districts they are not. We need to ensure that every kid has what they need to learn. Our school buildings are in disrepair. I will say that there's been a number of reports from the legislature. I do think we need to recapitalize the revolving loan program. So that school districts, regardless of their ability to pay, have access to low-cost capital to make the repairs that they need. That is really about bringing people together across the aisle. Republicans, Democrats, and independents agreeing on a bond. I think we can get it done. I have done it in the past and I'm ready to do it again as governor. [00:41:24] Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Bobby Charleston. [00:41:26] Bobby Charles: I come back to the question of the hour. Hannah, where were you? You were in charge of a lot of this for the last six and a half years. We are number 50, by the U.S. News report, number 50 in the country for our education outcomes. That's disgraceful. We're also number 50 for child well-being. We actually lead in child deaths and you are in charge of the children's cabinet. And I find it fascinating that Hannah talks here tonight about public education. My mom was a public school teacher. I went to public schools here in a normal everyday rural Maine high school. Let me just tell you something. She went to school. The average per child in this state is $10,000. She went to a school where the average student got $54,000 from state and local together. That is a very privileged kind of an environment. That's not what we're facing here. You had six and a half years to fix it and you didn't fix it. Here's what I'm going to do. Top to bottom review of education. Put a master teacher in charge as the commissioner. Restore academics and discipline, including math, reading and writing. Restructure the state curriculum. Restore trades in the schools. Set up a governor's council that would advise me by parents and teachers. Reduce the bureaucracy. Comply with Title IX so that our girls don't have to worry. And finally, yes, keep the 55% that goes to the state, to the local level, from the state, but make it accountable at the local level. Outcomes are what matter, not inputs. It's not how much you spend. It's what kind of a track we put our kids on to prosper in the future. [00:42:57] Speaker 1: Rick Bennett, same question to you about, I think, the $11 billion for school districts. Sure, I'll get to that. [00:43:01] Speaker 4: I just want to, in the interest of time, talk about education as we want. There are lots of issues with education, as you point out in your question, Greg. And I come from a family of school teachers, and so this is personal to me, and it's personal to people all across this state. You know, and I've seen over the last couple of decades, it's going from top in the country to the bottom quintile in so many measurements of performance of education. So the first thing I'll do as governor, ensure that every child can read and do math proficiently by fourth grade. Fourth grade, before that, you learn to read. After that, you read to learn. Second, we need to keep great teachers in Maine's classroom. We're losing teachers. We need to bring them back. Pay needs to be better. Working conditions need to be better. Third, we need to give every student a safe and supportive learning environment. And fourth, we need to prepare every kid for life, for regular life coming ahead, real life. And on the question of this $11 billion, it's a grievous problem. And we're not rewarding our school districts for keeping the buildings up to date and repaired, and that's a problem. And so deferred maintenance is always the place people go when they're trying to save money, and particularly property tax money. So we do need to listen to the commission's report on this. But we also need to take action. So many times these commissions are actually formed, not to solve the problem, but to kick the problem down past the next election. This is one of those examples. As governor, I'm going to follow their recommendations, and we're going to get our school buildings on a path to better health. [00:44:40] Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm going to offer the last word to Hannah Pingree, especially since you were mentioned in Bobby Charles' answer. This will be the last word on this topic, if we may. [00:44:46] Hannah Pingree: Sure. Well, I do believe deeply in public education. I will say Bobby Charles is a supporter of charter schools and diverting money out of public schools into private schools. I believe that every kid deserves an equal access to education, and by taking money out of public schools, that is a way to dilute every kid's ability to learn. I will say there's a whole lot we need to do, and I have actually -- there are many issues where I disagree with Governor Mills and her administration. And this is an issue where I do think we need to do much better. Again, I agree with Rick. We just talked about evidence-based programs. We know they're working in other states. We need to ensure that we are implementing them here in the state of Maine. [00:45:25] Speaker 1: A couple of seconds -- sentences and seconds, Bobby Charles, on the charter school particularly. [00:45:29] Bobby Charles: Yeah, this is just a false bogey, okay? That's a made-up fact, you know, made-up things that aren't true. We are number 50 for infrastructure, including schools, and that's because there's been no capital reinvestment for eight years. All right, thank you very much. [00:45:41] Speaker 1: Let's move on to the next topic. We'll actually begin this with Bobby Charles in a moment. It's evolving public safety, specifically around multiple communities around Maine, places like Rockland, Sanford, Lewiston. Others, as well, have reported an increase in youth crime lately. City leaders in Lewiston, in particular, have been asking for state action to help address this. What's your response? Let's start with Bobby Charles. [00:46:00] Bobby Charles: Yeah, so I will tell you something as someone who's worked in law enforcement and with drug treatment for 35 years. These are two ends of a canoe. You have to have them together. You have to support law enforcement, not make us a sanctuary state where you can't let locals and state folks talk to feds and the other way around. You have to have an effective vertical and horizontal communication system for law enforcement. They have to be properly authorized and properly funded. But on the addiction side, this is a terribly important issue. We live in a state that has 150,000 addicted Mainers. Ten percent of those over 12 are addicted. This administration has done nothing. In fact, Hannah Pingree and Janet Mills governed in the five worst years in the history of our state when addiction doubled and crime doubled. What I want to do is get all the addiction providers together on a monthly basis to fully reshape it. And mental health, it's a priority for me. I've been in all over the state in addiction centers. I want to get major new federal funding. I'll go down and get it. Expand addiction recovery with hundreds of beds. Support non-profit and for-profit options that work, faith-based and other. Set up a statewide protocol going from Narcan to detox to residential high, residential low, sober houses. And then build the business community around the recovered community so that we get back on the get well, stay well plan and public safety becomes a gemstone in the ring. [00:47:28] Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Rick Bennett, same question. Youth crime in particular, if you would. [00:47:31] Speaker 4: Yes. You know, youth crime is one area that we're hearing a lot about. But overall, crime in Maine has dropped over the last many years. And that's a good thing. And I celebrate it. However, I really believe that we haven't really done a very good job looking after our public safety system. In fact, you know, Governor Mills, despite repeated requests, hasn't even met with the Sheriff's Association during her entire service in office. And this is from a former prosecutor, which is unconscionable. And one of the things that they've been pushing is victim notification. When the perpetrator is released, 49 other states let the victim know that that perpetrator is released. Maine is the only state that does it. We've been working on this for four years, and she won't do that. So on youth crime in particular, I'm a big believer in community policing. I visited with the Auburn Police Department, saw them with their resources that they have, specifically working with youth, making it accessible, and the police departments and the police officers accessible to youth. And they're the ones who do community policing best. And we need to do a better job of that. Thank you very much. Tehanna Pingree, please. [00:48:48] Hannah Pingree: Sure. I do think our state's mayors, our city councils, need a better partner in state government to ensure that we are having public safety in our state's largest cities, managing a homelessness crisis, supporting our youth to ensure that they aren't getting access to illegal guns. I was just in Lewiston last weekend, and I heard from community members who are very concerned about public safety concerns on the ground, and they want the state to be a better partner. And I do think it is about the governor stepping up and ensuring that those leaders have a true partner in the state of Maine. So what are these kids getting in trouble for? We do know that disinvestment in their schools, a lack of affordable housing, a lack of consequences sometimes, is leading to worse outcomes. And this is an issue where, again, I'm not going to blame anybody. I actually think we need to bring people together to find solutions. We know that rising homelessness is also a challenge for many Maine people. And, again, this is why we need to build more housing to ensure that young folks, older folks, everybody across the state, the state of Maine, has a safe place to call home. On this issue, you also asked about the opioid crisis. I will say I am proud of the progress we've made. We've reduced opioid deaths every year for the last four years. Is it enough? Absolutely not. We've expanded treatment beds. We now have 600 in the state of Maine. But we do need to keep fighting to ensure that every kid has access to prevention services, and we have a game plan to keep saving and protecting lives. [00:50:14] Speaker 1: I do want to follow up with you, Hannah Pingria, is that numbers do show that opioid overdoses have decreased over the last few years. You just mentioned not enough is being done. What more could be done? We already see harm reduction happening. What more would you suggest? [00:50:25] Hannah Pingree: I will say that the attacks on our healthcare system are going to be devastating. Again, my opponent, Bobby Charles, believes that we need to roll back Medicaid expansion. That 100,000 people, those are the folks who are often getting access to recovery programs, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment. If you roll back Medicaid expansion, there won't be a way to pay for their healthcare. All right. We know that people in recovery need access to healthcare. That's how they get better. [00:50:52] Speaker 1: Every candidate wants to continue talking about this. But we -- Rick -- Bobby Charles is saying he wants -- I'm going to give you literally two sentences out of this, because you've been going over on your answers. Yes. [00:51:02] Bobby Charles: So, Hannah gets the prize for audacity here. Our addiction problem in this state, driven by her program to give away needles and basically believe that's an answer, is an absolute disgrace. I have spent hundreds of hours with these people in this state. I sit with the kids who are addicted and their parents, and I'm going to tell you something. You failed, Hannah. You failed miserably. We cannot stop. All right. We've got to get back to addiction services. [00:51:27] Speaker 1: Okay. We need to stop right now. Rick Bennett? Yeah. Literally a sentence, please, if you can. One or two. [00:51:33] Speaker 4: Well, you went to the topic of opioid addictions, which is a grievous issue, and I've led on this issue. You know, I've provided stable and sustained funding for our recovery centers. We still don't do a great job providing that stable infrastructure for people in recovery. You know, when you're ready for the program, and you go to a place to get help, and you're told, "Thank you for coming in." Well, you're on a wait list for eight months. It's not acceptable. If you don't suggest what we can do, we can fund it more sustainably, and we can provide that infrastructure for people in recovery. [00:52:15] Speaker 1: We do need to get to our closing statements. I do want to give the last word. We're going to suspend our lightning round. I think we're out of time anyway. We've sort of had a lightning round as we've gone along here. Hannah Pingree, let's give you the last word on this topic, then closing statements. [00:52:26] Hannah Pingree: I'm on board. Let's get to the closing. Thank you, Greg. [00:52:29] Speaker 1: Thank you very much. All right. Let's get to this. Obviously, again, we're out of time for the lightning round. Apologies to those who enjoy the lightning round. Not this time, though. We've covered a lot of ground. Again, based on our random drawing, we decided the order in which they would appear before you and do their closing statements. Again, based on that order, we begin with Bobby Charles. You have one minute, sir. [00:52:46] Bobby Charles: Yeah. I'm going to say, for the love of Maine, think hard about whether or not your life is better or worse in the last eight years. And that goes to things like addiction, as well as property taxes and energy. My fellow Maineers, the last eight years have been a trial. Complete mismanagement of our government. Another $1.3 billion unpaid, hospitals not paid, electricity and property taxes tripled, drug trafficking and needles everywhere. The good news is we can change that. We can say no to the insiders. No to the corruption. We can say yes to $100,000 property tax exemption. We can say yes to ending high income taxes. Yes to ending taxes on tips and overtime. Yes to lowering rent. Yes to 40% drop in your power bill. All very realistic and doable. Imagine not dreading that envelope. We can get federal money for addiction. Get our schools back on track. Get life in Maine back to what it should be. Predictable, affordable and normal. You can have an honest, compassionate, competent governor. I am ready to make it happen. Please vote. Let's make it happen. [00:53:53] Speaker 1: All right, Bobby Charles, thank you. Rick Bennett, you have one minute as well for your closing statement. [00:53:56] Speaker 4: I've spent this year walking Maine county by county. And I'll tell you what I've heard. People love this state. And they can't afford to stay here. I ran a business here. I took a Portland Startup Global and made it profitable. I led a tied Senate. And we balanced budgets with both parties in the room. That's the governor I'll be. Somebody who's run things. Who shows up. And who fixes what's broken. Your electric bill. Your rent or mortgage. Your health care costs. I'm not asking you to vote against anyone. I'm asking you to vote for a better Maine. Where your kids can afford to live where you raise them. We need to get back to a politics of collaboration and compromise. The party candidates can't do that. Hannah Pingree wears a D on her jersey. Bobby Charles has an R on his. My jersey says Maine. I'm Rick Bennett. And I'd be honored to have your vote. Thank you very much. And Hannah Pingree. [00:54:58] Speaker 1: You have one minute as well for your closing statement. [00:55:00] Hannah Pingree: Sure. So here's what I know after 16 months of traveling the state. From Mapleton to Machias to Kittery. Mainers are tough. Mainers are resilient. But Mainers are fed up. Families are working harder than ever before. But still having trouble making ends meet. And Donald Trump is making it much, much worse. I will just say Mainers have told me they want two things from their next governor. One, a governor who will lower costs and deliver solutions to the challenges we face. And second, a governor who will stand up to this reckless president. Donald Trump is counting on governors and states to give up and to back down. I will never give up. I will never back down. I fought the chemical companies who were poisoning our kids. And I won. I built housing for Maine people. I helped our communities recover from the toughest storms. I put out bold plans to lower health care costs to deliver urgently needed heating oil relief. I know how to make stuff happen. I spent my entire career fighting for Maine people. And again, my name is Hannah Pingree. I would be deeply honored by your vote. [00:56:03] Speaker 1: Thank you very much to all of our candidates tonight. I do want to say, I think among the many things we probably left dangling here, I started asking about Lewiston and how they had specifically asked the next governor to meet with them. Let's go ahead and do a quick one-question lightning round. Yeah. If the folks of Lewiston, the leaders there, want to meet with the governor, will you vow today to do that? Let's start with Bobby Trump. [00:56:21] Bobby Charles: I will not only vow to meet with them. I have already met with them and the victims of the shootings. And I will transfer $2 million from a different account by reprogramming to cover what this administration didn't allow. [00:56:32] Speaker 1: It's not really a lightning round, but Rick Bennett, a question to you. Will you meet with the folks at Lewiston? Of course. [00:56:36] Speaker 4: I will meet with any Mainer, anywhere, particularly those in leadership positions with a solemn trust. Happy to do so. Thank you. [00:56:43] Hannah Pingree: And Hannah Pingree, please. I was in Lewiston last weekend talking to people on the ground. I've worked with the city council, with the police department. They need a good partner and the next governor, and I'm ready to do that. [00:56:53] Speaker 1: I was going to close the lightning round on whether or not you think the Patriots will make the playoffs this year, but I think you probably all agree with that. [00:56:58] Speaker 4: We hope. It's looking good. [00:57:00] Speaker 1: We certainly hope so. All right, thank you so much to our candidates. Thank you, everybody at home, for tuning in tonight. We do want to remind you, if you haven't had a chance to, you know, watch the beginning of this debate, perhaps you'd like to re-watch it or you want to tell somebody about it, you can scan the QR code on your screen right there. That'll take you to our YouTube page where you can watch the debate in its entirety or just parts of it, whatever you wish. That'll be now through Election Day. And, of course, we want to remind you, Election Day is three weeks from today, so exercise your right to vote and vote between now and November 3rd. Thank you very much for tuning in tonight. Thank you to the candidates. [00:57:28] Hannah Pingree: Thank you, Greg. [00:57:34] Speaker ?: Thank you.