A conservative advocacy group focused on older Americans. The California attorney general’s office. A company hoping to establish permanent human residency in outer space.

These are some of the groups that hired the firm run by Republican candidate for Maine governor Bobby Charles to be their lobbyist over the last 25 years in Washington, D.C.

Charles is mounting an underdog campaign against Democrat Hannah Pingree, whom a CNN poll found this week has a 52% to 39% lead. Also in the contest to succeed Gov. Janet Mills is independent Rick Bennett.

While both Pingree and Bennett have been involved in Maine politics for years, Charles is a newcomer to campaigns who built his career in Washington, D.C. In addition to working in the federal government and serving as an assistant U.S. secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, Charles founded a consulting firm, the Charles Group, in 1999.

In order to gain insight into the relationships he forged during his long career in D.C., the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reviewed close to 600 lobbying reports filed by the Charles Group between 2000 and 2026. The review found a wide array of work across industries, including for some groups that are similar to ones that could have business in Augusta.

Charles’ campaign said he was not available this week for an interview on his work with the Charles Group, including its lobbying efforts — which have been the target of attacks lately in his run for governor. Just this week, Charles’ sister, Anita Charles, criticized her brother as an out-of-touch lobbyist in an op-ed saying she plans to vote for Pingree.

In response to written questions, Charles said congressional lobbying is a small part of the work his firm does, along with conducting studies, providing management guidance and evaluating performance for clients. All that work has prepared him to lead Maine, he said.

“In 26 years, I have personally sat in a congressional office with a client less than half a dozen times,” Charles said.

Charles stepped away from the group while serving as assistant U.S. secretary of state from 2003 to 2005, but today continues to serve as president. He said he would resign if elected.

Over the years, the entities that Charles’ firm has done the most work for have been within the U.S. Department of Defense, including the U.S. National Guard and several military combatant commands, he said, though they are not included in lobbying disclosure reports. The reports are only required for lobbying activity, such as attempts to influence legislation or actions by the federal government, and not for other work such as consulting.

Dozens of other entities linked to the firm in lobbying reports include the Association of Mature American Citizens, a conservative group advocating for the rights of older Americans; Textron/ Bell, an aerospace manufacturer; and the Major County Sheriffs’ Association, a professional law enforcement association.

CHARLES GROUP TOP CLIENTS

Charles said the company’s main areas of expertise include counter-narcotics, domestic and international security, law enforcement support, drug prevention and treatment, aviation, space policy and seniors’ issues.

To determine which clients gave the firm the most lobbying business, the Press Herald analyzed filings that included at least $5,000 in reported income per quarter.

The top client was the Association of Mature American Citizens, an advocacy group that bills itself as a conservative alternative to AARP.

The firm collected more than $400,000 from AMAC between 2011 and 2019, advocating for issues including healthcare and Social Security legislation and reforms. Although no lobbying reports have been filed since 2019, Charles continues to work for the association, where he serves as a national spokesperson.

Other top clients include the company now known as Bell Textron, Inc., specializing in helicopters, and the Major County Sheriff’s Association, now known as the Major County Sheriffs of America.

From 2000 to 2007, the Charles Group collected over $276,000 from Bell Textron, advocating for aviation and homeland security issues. The firm collected over $260,000 between 2010 and 2016 from the sheriffs group, working on public safety, law enforcement and other issues.

Between 2000 and 2007, the group collected more than $220,000 from the California Attorney General’s Office — perhaps an unlikely partner for Charles. California, dominated by Democrats in Sacramento, is one of the most progressive states in the country.

Charles said that work “focused on strategic planning tied to addressing California’s then explosive meth super lab crisis.”

OTHER CLIENTS OF NOTE

The Charles Group’s work has taken it to far-flung industries — including lobbying on everything from research on brain conditions to music education to inhabiting outer space.

In 2016 and 2017, the firm worked for CSS USA Inc., a manufacturer of specialized storage containers, advocating for use of their product by federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to lobbying disclosure reports.

Between 2013 and 2016, it collected over $30,000 from Westport Pharmaceuticals, a company that at the time was trying to develop a pseudoephedrine product resistant to being broken down into methamphetamine. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency pushed back on the company’s marketing of its decongestant, Zephrex-D, as meth-resistant. The feds said their agents were, in fact, able to synthesize the drug into meth.

Charles said the advisory work his firm did with the company was to try and mitigate the use of over-the-counter pseudoephedrine tabs in meth production.

“The innovation was specifically to stop the ability of ‘mom and pop’ meth makers from accessing a version of pseudoephedrine that could be chemically broken down,” he said.

In more recent years, the Charles Group has made lobbying money on defense and aerospace work. According to Charles, the firm has a strong relationship with a number of high-profile astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, assisting them with speech editing and writing, and with the drafting of studies and conference participation.

The only lobbying work reported so far this year by the Charles Group was for Voyager Technologies, Inc., an aerospace company that is working to develop technology to establish a permanent human presence in space and on the moon.

In 2025, the group reported less than $5,000 in lobbying activity each quarter on behalf of Voyager, working on “national security space technology.”

And this year, reports show the Charles Group collected $10,000 from Voyager for lobbying on “next generation civil space habitation technology.”