Record-setting haul is as much as all other GOP candidates combined
Bush “the only candidate who can finally beat Maine’s left-wing Democrats in a general election”
SOUTH PORTLAND – Maine campaign finance reports are now all in, and Jonathan Bush for Governor has brought in more money than any other candidate for Maine governor.
Bush has also officially brought in roughly as much as all 8 other GOP candidates for governor – combined – despite being in the race for less time than everyone else who filed a report.
He also has roughly as much cash on hand ($617k) as the rest of the GOP field combined ($633k).
Click here to read Bush’s record-breaking report.
“Jonathan Bush has now proven that he is the only candidate who can finally beat Maine’s left-wing Democrats in a general election,” Bush campaign manager Eamonn Dundon said. “The rest of the candidates in the Republican field are nice guys with some good ideas, but they’ve shown now that they can’t compete with Democrats’ massive money machine that will be trained at whoever our nominee is in June. Maine Republicans should try something new – a candidate that can beat the Democrats at their own game.”
GOP candidates in order of total amount raised from donors (does not include self-contributions):
Jonathan Bush: $959K
Bobby Charles: $527K
Owen McCarthy: $287k
David Jones: $236k
Ben Midgely: $144k
GOP candidates in order of amount of cash on hand:
Jonathan Bush: $617k
Bobby Charles: $290k
David Jones: $173k
Owen McCarthy: $166k
Ben Midgely: $158k
Important points:
- These reports confirm that Jonathan raising roughly $1 million from donors – aside from his own roughly $400k contribution – in his first off-year finance report is a Maine record. No one has ever done this before.
- Midgely and Jones spent more than they raised, and their COH balance is solely due to their personal contributions to their campaigns.
- 63% of Midgely’s total money comes from himself. About 40% of Jones’ money comes from himself.
- Hannah Pingree, the only candidate who came close to Jonathan’s numbers, has been in the race about twice as long.
“I’m running to fix Maine’s broken economy,” Bush said. “We need a massive tax cut, an audit of the Augusta morass, and an all-out attack on housing and energy prices. This record-breaking finance report shows that there is unprecedented support for my platform for change.”
Here’s the breakdown of each candidate for Maine governor’s finance reports. Note: this chart includes self-funding to the tune of $400k by Bush, $250k by Midgely, $80k by Charles, $55k by McCarthy, and $150k by Jones (who also spent another roughly $100k on in-kind contributions to himself).
| 1st report ’25 Primary Raise | 2nd report ’25 Primary Raise | Total ’25 Primary Raise | 12/31/25 CoH | |
| Bush, Jonathan | N/A | $1,336,536 | $1,336,536 | $617,716 |
| Capron, Ken | N/A | $3,511 | $3,511 | $194 |
| Charles, Robert | $316,304 | $290,740 | $607,044 | $290,666 |
| Jones, David | $113,555 | $272,466 | $386,021 | $173,551 |
| Libby, Jim | $5,055 | $9,690 | $14,745 | $389 |
| Mason, Garrett | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| McCarthy, Owen | $161,192 | $181,280 | $342,472 | $166,351 |
| Midgely, Ben | N/A | $394,653 | $394,653 | $158,661 |
| Wessels, Robert | $11,164 | $13,262 | $24,426 | $16,826 |
| Bellows, Shenna | $461,689 | $472,835 | $934,524 | $419,327 |
| Jackson, Troy | $300,984 | $227,901 | $528,885 | $140,444 |
| King, Angus III | $420,384 | $463,306 | $883,690 | $314,490 |
| Pingree, Hannah | $437,458 | $719,865 | $1,157,323 | $508,269 |
| Shah, Nirav | N/A | $445,980 | $445,980 | $275,557 |