AUGUSTA — Two new candidates — a state senator and a southern Maine real estate broker — have emerged in the Republican primary for the 2026 gubernatorial election.

Sen. James Libby, R-Standish, officially announced Thursday that he is running for governor, and David Jones, the owner of F.O. Bailey Real Estate in Falmouth, announced his candidacy on a conservative talk show on Tuesday.

“For too long, Maine government has disrupted budgets and business plans without consideration of the impact on viability,” Libby said in a written statement, citing the state’s new Paid Medical and Family Leave program and the state’s minimum wage, which has automatic increases for cost of living.

The announcements add to the growing list of candidates in both parties more than a year before either primary. The race is expected to draw a large field given that Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, cannot seek reelection because of term limits.

Up until this week, most of the action has been on the Democratic side, with high-profile announcements from former Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and renewable energy entrepreneur Angus King III, the son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, having declared their candidacies.

Hannah Pingree, the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, who resigned from her position in the Mills administration last week, has also been rumored to be considering a run.

On the Republican side, Libby and Bailey joined Bobby Charles, a Leeds resident and lawyer who served under President George W. Bush, and Robert Wessels of Norway and Steven Shepherd of Bangor.

Libby, who is serving his sixth non-consecutive term in the Legislature, including four in the Senate, announced his candidacy at Standish Town Hall on Thursday.

Libby, a tenured professor at Thomas College and member of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s policy committee, ran for governor more than 20 years ago, losing the Republican primary to Peter Cianchette in 2002.

Jones, who has never held public office, previously ran for governor as an independent in 2006, but withdrew from the race and endorsed Republican Chandler Woodcock, who ultimately lost to Democrat John Baldacci.

Jones co-founded the Make Maine Great Again Super PAC in support of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and served on Trump’s 2024 platform committee.

On Monday, Jones told WVOM that he wants to emulate what Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are doing to reduce federal spending and the federal workforce, saying that “a Maine DOGE is absolutely imperative.”

“We are going to look at every single expenditure the state of Maine spends,” Jones said. “We’re going to make sure that it’s reasonable, and that it’s right. And if it’s not, it’s going to be stopped.”

Democrats have held a trifecta since Mills took office in 2019, maintaining majorities in both the House and Senate.

Since the 1950s, Mainers have not elected a candidate from the same political party as a departing governor — a trend that began after Maine had five consecutive Republican governors from 1937 through 1955.

The decades of ping-ponging between parties in the Blaine House began when Democrat Ed Muskie was elected in 1954, ending Republicans’ nearly two-decade hold on the governorship.