PORTLAND — Five people born before Ronald Reagan’s presidency attempted to bridge a generational gap Thursday night in front of countless others born during or after Bill Clinton’s.

Over the course of two hours, they shared words of wisdom, reflected on the hunger for change they felt at their audience’s age, and explained what they’d do if they were elected to be Maine’s next governor this November.

The forum of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates at the Portland Media Center on Congress Street, which was also the subject of watch parties at college campuses across the state, was organized by the Community Organizing Alliance, Maine Youth Power and the Young People’s Caucus.

Taking the stage just over two months before the June 9 primary were Shenna Bellows, secretary of state; Angus King III, a renewable energy entrepreneur; Hannah Pingree, former speaker of the Maine House; and Nirav Shah, a former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Troy Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, participated remotely and was able to answer most questions, despite some technical glitches.

The organizations touted the forum as being by and for young Mainers. Tamanda Namangale, 23, a youth organizer and Bates College student who moderated the forum, made that clear early.

“Tonight is about engagement, it’s about accountability and it’s about imagining a future where young people don’t just inherit Maine, we help define it,” she said before asking candidates for their opening statements.

All of the questions were crafted by young people, whether prepared by organizers or submitted by spectators. The vast majority of the live audience in Portland appeared to be younger than 30.

Young Mainers asked the candidates for their thoughts on the future of the juvenile prison system, addiction treatment and how they would make housing more affordable, especially for renters and first-time homebuyers.

They asked how they would fix an increasingly inaccessible health care system, address climate change and recognize the Wabanaki Nations.

They asked for their stances on transgender and reproductive rights, federal immigration enforcement, and systemic racism within Maine’s institutions.

“We’ve noticed a gap in political spaces because young people are often spoken about, but they rarely get the opportunity to directly engage with candidates,” Namangale said in an interview ahead of the event. “We decided to build that space for ourselves and give young people the room to ask questions about things that are directly affecting them.”

Eli Durand-McDonnell, 27, a policy director with Maine Youth Power, said the forum was a way “to bring young people into the conversation.”

“Nationwide, we know that young people usually turn out at lower rates compared to older generations,” he said. “We were thinking about how we can get them more engaged and learn in a way that feels specific to them.”

SOME FRESH QUESTIONS

As in previous debates, the five Democrats found it difficult to stand out from one another, expressing mostly similar views on topics ranging from the economy to health care and the environment.

But young Mainers came up with some timely and age-sensitive questions.

The Long Creek Youth Development Center, the state’s only youth prison, has faced scrutiny in recent years over poor conditions for staff and prisoners.

When asked about the future of the facility, Bellows, Jackson and Pingree explicitly said it should be closed. Shah said he’d transition it into a therapeutic facility, and King agreed the current approach is a “failure.” All said the focus should be on rehabilitation and that the issue intertwines with others, such as health care, housing and educational inequality.

The candidates were asked for their position on the upcoming ballot question that will ask Maine voters whether to ban transgender athletes from playing in girls’ sports.

Jackson, Bellows, Pingree and Shah spoke in opposition to the conservative-led effort and discussed how they have addressed marginalization of Mainers to date. King said athletic associations and schools are capable of handling that specific issue themselves, but that he, too, will stand up for Mainers whose rights are being threatened.

The candidates were also asked how the state should be supporting families who did not go to work or school out of fear during January’s surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Maine. A recent analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy says businesses lost $3.4 million in taxable sales during the 10-day surge but warned that the economic impacts are likely more far-reaching.

All five candidates took a portion of their 90 seconds to rail against ICE’s practices. Jackson, Pingree, Bellows and Shah said immigrants who lost work should be eligible for compensation, with the former three specifically referencing unemployment benefits. King stopped short of that but, along with the other four, discussed other support systems he would be in favor of, like rental assistance and eviction prevention.

In their closing statements, the candidates abided by the forum’s intended purpose and turned the spotlight to the young people in attendance: They thanked them for their interest, hoped they’d earn their vote and reminded them of their crucial role in the future of Maine.

As important as it was to her that attendees felt engaged, Namangale said she wants to ensure the candidates keep the thoughts and experiences of young people top of mind in their quest for the Blaine House.

“The people who lead us sometimes talk about issues without hearing from the people who are directly affected by them,” she said, later adding: “I’m hoping it shows the urgency and importance of acknowledging the issues young people are facing and how deep and interconnected all young people are, regardless of where they’re from across Maine.”