AUGUSTA — Republican Bobby Charles held on to the lead in his party’s primary for governor, emerging early Friday as the winner in an eight-way race after a series of ranked-choice runoffs.

Charles, an attorney and former official in the federal government, was the winner after the first-round of voting on election night, with 37.9% support, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press. He was followed by former fitness franchise executive Ben Midgley (20.1%) and healthcare CEO Jonathan Bush (19.8%).

After six rounds of ranked-choice voting, Charles secured a majority over Ben Midgley, who finished second. The results were announced early Friday morning — hours after Charles criticized the long tabulation process.

“Maine voters cast their ballots on June 9,” said Charles at a Thursday news conference. “It is now June 18, and we still don’t have a final, certified result, after nine days.”

Charles’ sizable lead made it appear likely he would remain the winner after the race went to a ranked-choice runoff, though it was unclear because some of his fellow candidates had announced alliances and rankings favoring each other and excluding the front-runner.

State Sen. Jim Libby, R-Standish, dropped out of the race in April but remained on the ballot and had endorsed Bush. He was the first candidate eliminated in the runoff. Robert Wessels, the second candidate to be eliminated, had encouraged his supporters to pick Bush second.

And David Jones, a real estate developer and the third candidate eliminated, had encouraged voters to rank Midgley second and to not rank Charles at all on their ballots.

But those strategies were not enough to crack Charles’ sizable lead heading into the runoff, and enough of his opponents’ supporters apparently selected Charles in their rankings to hand him a victory.

“Maine is ready for change,” Charles said in an early morning statement. “From Fort Kent to Kittery, from Downeast to Rangeley, Mainers sent a clear message: it is time to fix what is broken in Augusta. I am honored to carry that message into November.”

Charles, 65, of Leeds, was one of the first candidates to get into the governor’s race, declaring his candidacy over a year ago in April 2025, and consistently leading polling despite being heavily outspent by Bush, who raised more than twice as much money.

A Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School-educated attorney, Charles worked in the federal government and was an assistant U.S. secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration.

For about the last 25 years, he has run a D.C.-based consulting firm, The Charles Group.

Charles made being tough on crime and immigration key issues, and drew attention last year for a series of posts slamming a Somali-American lawmaker whom he alleged was not loyal to the United States. His abrasive style earned him plenty of support from the Republican base, though he was often criticized by his fellow candidates.

Charles will take on Hannah Pingree, who was declared the winner Friday morning in a ranked-choice runoff in the Democratic primary, and independent Rick Bennett in November.