Energy prices are going up. Child care is unaffordable. Buying a house is out of reach.

Across Maine, the cost of living is top of mind for voters going into the 2026 election cycle, and candidates are rolling out their plans to respond.

Last month, Gov. Janet Mills, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat, proposed an affordability plan for her final year in office that includes $300 relief checks for taxpayers, a continuation of the state’s free community college program, and a $70 million investment in housing costs and construction.

The Press Herald asked each of the nearly two dozen candidates so far vying to replace Mills about their ideas for improving affordability for Mainers. Their responses were compiled from interviews, information provided by their campaigns and policy plans they’ve released.

Here’s what they had to say.

SHENNA BELLOWS, DEMOCRAT

Bellows, currently Maine’s secretary of state, is proposing a freeze on property taxes for full-time Maine residents, while increasing rates for non-resident homeowners.

She is also proposing a freeze on electricity rates while the state develops a long-term solution to control costs, and she wants to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.

RICK BENNETT, INDEPENDENT

The need for housing is too great for state subsidies alone to solve, said Bennett, a longtime lawmaker and former Maine GOP chair. He said the state needs to “break down barriers to construction” by reforming housing rules and regulations.

Bennett said he would like to resurrect the manufactured and modular housing industry, which would also create jobs. He is sponsoring a bond proposal in the Legislature that is modeled after a Colorado law to resurrect that state’s factory-built housing through short-term grants and loans.

Bennett said he also wants to look at how other states are able to control prescription drug prices, and if there’s anything working that could be applied in Maine.

JONATHAN BUSH, REPUBLICAN

Bush, the founder of athenahealth, a Belfast-based health care technology company, is proposing a $1 billion income tax cut that he estimates would put $2,000 back in every household’s budget per year. He is also calling for a “thorough and far-reaching” audit of state government to weed out waste, fraud and abuse.

He has said he wants to double the availability of natural gas to reduce energy costs.

KEN CAPRON, REPUBLICAN

Capron, a retired accountant and systems engineer, who in 2018 approached the city of Portland with an idea for converting a cruise ship into a homeless shelter, said elected leaders need to think outside the box. He said businesses should also be investing in new housing.

Government efficiency is key to affordability, he said, adding that he would use his background in accounting to audit how the government is working.

BOBBY CHARLES, REPUBLICAN

An attorney and former U.S. assistant secretary of state, Charles said he would prioritize cutting income and property taxes, lowering utility bills and rolling back what he described as burdensome government mandates.

On his website, Charles pledges to abolish the state income tax. He also has released a plan to cut energy bills by 40% that includes reforming and remaking the Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utilities in Maine.

JASON CHERRY, DEMOCRAT

Cherry, a retired FBI agent and attorney, said he would conduct a study on price gouging to evaluate whether Mainers are getting fair prices for food and gas.

He said he would also want to look at a potential ban on investors buying single-family homes to free up the housing market.

Generally, Cherry said he wants to see more investments by Maine residents and businesses into the economy here, rather than banks and out-of-state private equity firms.

ED CROCKETT, INDEPENDENT

Crockett, a Portland lawmaker who recently unenrolled from the Democratic party, said he would expand first-time homebuyer programs with reduced interest rates, pursue zoning reform and accelerate the construction of workforce housing.

He would prioritize lowering the cost of education and would permanently extend the free community college program.

DAVID FOSTER, REPUBLICAN

Foster said he would implement a 15% reduction in small business taxes, establish a $250 million rural revitalization fund and expand high-speed broadband to lower the cost of living and doing business in rural areas.

He also said he would expand public transit and fast-track the construction of 50,000 affordable housing units over five years by streamlining the permitting process and working with municipalities to ensure projects are approved and built quickly.

On health care, Foster said he would look to expand MaineCare eligibility.

JOHN GLOWA SR., INDEPENDENT

Glowa, a former state worker and environmental advocate, said he would reduce the tax burden on lower- and middle-income people by decreasing or eliminating sales taxes. He’d also decrease or eliminate the property tax for older Mainers.

Glowa said he would propose the state pay for 10,000 low-cost, low-rent public housing units. He would set up savings accounts for renters, through which a portion of their rent would be set aside for future use as a down payment on purchasing a home.

TROY JACKSON, DEMOCRAT

Jackson, a longtime lawmaker and former Senate president, has released a detailed policy agenda that includes lowering prescription drug and energy costs, and doubling Maine’s earned income tax credit.

He has said he would elevate MaineHousing, a quasi-governmental agency, by transitioning it into a state Department of Housing Affordability and giving it new powers.

Jackson’s plans also call for ambitious progress on child care, including making the first year of child care free for all families.

DAVID JONES, REPUBLICAN

Jones, a Falmouth real estate broker, said he would eliminate property taxes, saying it could be done over four years by tightening the state budget 10% each year. Property taxes are not part of the state budget; they fund county and municipal services and are set on the local level.

He also pledged to repeal certain green energy policies, which he says are driving up electric bills.

ANGUS KING III, DEMOCRAT

King, a businessman with a background in renewable energy, has rolled out detailed energy plans that call for streamlining regulatory and permitting processes. He said the state should not subsidize massive energy users like data centers whose demands raise costs.

King’s ideas on health care include improving prevention and early detection efforts, incentivizing telehealth and lowering the costs of prescription drugs.

He said he would address the housing shortage by streamlining state-level building and zoning codes.

DEREK LEVASSEUR, INDEPENDENT

Levasseur, a small business owner who previously ran as a Republican to challenge U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2019, said he would institute a $350,000 homestead tax exemption on primary residences. It would be the first step on a path toward ending property taxes, which are set and collected at the municipal level, on primary residences altogether.

Levasseur said lost property tax revenue would be made up for by raising the sales tax and streamlining government.

He also said he would create a new oversight and audit authority to cut government waste, which would lower the cost of living.

JIM LIBBY, REPUBLICAN

Libby, a Thomas College professor and state senator from Standish, wants to form a coalition of states to put new guardrails on the Federal Reserve to control inflation.

“It’s not as interesting as a billion dollar tax cut, but sometimes the answers to these problems aren’t easy,” Libby said.

Libby has also proposed lowering income taxes by 20% in his first two-year budget cycle and a “savings-based” approach to funding housing that would give out state dollars based on an individual’s savings.

GARRETT MASON, REPUBLICAN

Mason, a former Maine Senate majority leader, said he would work with banks and credit unions to increase people’s access to capital and make the housing market more accessible.

Mason also said he would work to increase the supply of natural gas to reduce energy costs and work to expand the availability of tax-advantaged health savings accounts to people without health insurance.

OWEN MCCARTHY, REPUBLICAN

McCarthy, a medical technology entrepreneur from Gorham, has a list of targets to hit by 2040. His plans include an immediate 10% income tax cut for households earning less than $200,000. McCarthy has also said he wants to fully eliminate income taxes and freeze property taxes for seniors.

On energy, McCarthy said he would work to end hidden charges on electric bills, import more hydropower from Canada and phase out the net energy billing program. The latter, which gives residents and businesses bill credits for electricity they produce with renewable systems, has long been criticized by Republicans for raising costs for other ratepayers.

BEN MIDGLEY, REPUBLICAN

Midgley, a former fitness franchise executive, also supports a repeal of net energy billing.

He wants to increase competition in the health insurance marketplace, including by revising “certificate of need” regulations that he says limit the development of new health care facilities.

He also said he supports putting some guardrails on the ability of municipalities to raise property taxes, and said he would work to revise the permitting process to ease housing development.

ALEXANDER MURCHISON, INDEPENDENT

Murchison, an engineer and political newcomer, wants to use eminent domain to take over abandoned properties that could be sold at affordable prices to address the housing shortage. He also proposes creating new tax incentives for anyone with a second home or sellable property willing to part with it to add to the available housing supply.

He supports the expansion of different renewable energy sources as well as nuclear power as a way to lower costs.

HANNAH PINGREE, DEMOCRAT

Pingree, a former speaker of the Maine House and official in the Mills administration, has released a five-point housing affordability plan that includes investing $100 million each year in housing construction and preservation, and streamlining state permitting and approval processes.

Pingree on Wednesday announced a health care affordability plan that includes the creation of a public option for Maine’s insurance marketplace.

On energy, she said the state needs to more forcefully tie utility profits to performance, reliability and customer bills. She would empower the PUC to more easily reject unjustified rate hikes and penalize poor service.

NIRAV SHAH, DEMOCRAT

Shah, the former director of the Maine CDC, said he would cap health care co-pays and deductibles at around 2% of household income, and would limit prescription drug prices for some of the most common and essential medications.

On housing, Shah said he would have the state issue bonds for the development of low-income housing. And he said he would work with municipalities to create “housing zones” where high-density projects could be built.

Shah said he is generally opposed to further rate hikes or increases for electricity, and said the state can make strides in weatherization, insulation and lowering energy costs.

“The fastest way to save people money in their pocketbook is to help them use a lot less energy,” he said.

ROBERT WESSELS, REPUBLICAN

Wessels is proposing to cut the state budget — currently $11.3 billion for two years — by $2 billion. He also said the state needs to end solar subsidies in favor of what he said are more efficient energy sources such as natural gas.

And he said he would reverse certain tax policies of the Mills administration, including the state’s paid family and medical leave program. Wessels said he would implement tax provisions of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including exempting tips from income taxes.