Rick Bennett (politician)

Rick Bennett
Member of the Maine Senate from the 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 7, 2022
Preceded by	Lisa Keim
Member of the Maine Senate from the 19th district
In office December 2, 2020 – December 7, 2022
Preceded by	James Hamper
Succeeded by	Lisa Keim
Chair of the Maine Republican Party
In office July 20, 2013 – January 29, 2017
Preceded by	Richard Cebra
Succeeded by	Demi Kouzounas
President of the Maine Senate
In office December 6, 2001 – December 4, 2002
Preceded by	Mike Michaud
Succeeded by	Beverly Daggett
Member of the Maine Senate from the 25th district
In office December 4, 1996 – December 1, 2004
Preceded by	Dana Hanley
Succeeded by	Kenneth Gagnon
Member of the Maine House of Representatives from the 50th district
In office December 5, 1990 – December 7, 1994
Preceded by	Joseph Walker
Succeeded by	Thomas Davidson
Personal details
Born	(1963-05-24) May 24, 1963 Portland, Maine, U.S.
Political party	Republican (before 2025) Independent (2025–present)
Spouse	Karen Bennett
Children	2
Education	Harvard University (BA) University of Southern Maine (MBA)
Website	Campaign website

Richard A. Bennett (born May 24, 1963) is an American businessman and politician from the state of Maine. Initially elected as a Republican, he currently serves in the Maine Senate as an independent. He is running for Governor of Maine in the 2026 election. He previously served as President of the Maine Senate from 2001–2002. He was the Republican nominee for Maine's 2nd congressional district in 1994, losing to Democrat John Baldacci, and was a candidate in the 2012 U.S. Senate election, losing the Republican primary to Charlie Summers. He has served in the Maine Senate since 2020.

Political career

As a resident of Norway, Maine, Bennett was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1990. He was re-elected unopposed in 1992. In 1994, Bennett was the Republican nominee for Congress in Maine's second district, losing to John Baldacci in a close race. He was elected to the State Senate in 1996, and served until he was term limited in 2004.

Bennett was the president of the Maine Senate as the result of a unique power-sharing agreement between Republicans and Democrats predicated on an even split in state senators. The deal gave the presidency to both parties for one year each during each two-year senate term.

On May 2, 2008, he was elected to a four-year term as Maine's Republican national committeeman.

In 2006, he considered running for Governor of Maine, but decided to remain in the private sector instead, though he did serve as Republican nominee Chandler Woodcock's campaign co-chair. His name was widely circulated as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010, but he ultimately decided against running. In 2012, Bennett sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Olympia Snowe but was defeated by Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers. Summers ultimately would be defeated by independent Angus King.

On July 20, 2013, Bennett was elected chairman of the Maine Republican Party, replacing former state representative Richard Cebra of Naples. In 2015, Bennett was unanimously re-elected as chairman of the Maine Republican Party. He was a Republican elector for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election for Maine's second congressional district.

In 2020, Bennett returned to electoral office for the first time since 2004 by winning a state senate seat, outrunning Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. He was re-elected in 2022 and 2024, significantly outrunning Paul LePage and Trump in both elections.

2026 gubernatorial campaign

Main article: 2026 Maine gubernatorial election

On June 24, 2025, Bennett announced that he would run for governor of Maine in 2026 as an independent, ending his lifelong affiliation with the Republican Party. In the months preceding the launch of his campaign, Bennett had publicly diverged from the GOP, crossing party lines to vote against a Republican bill that would have restricted transgender students from participating in school sports, and joining Democrats in voting for a bill that would limit local police in Maine from collaborating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. He was the sole Republican to vote with the Democrats on both bills, on what were otherwise party-line votes.

If elected, Bennett would be Maine's third independent governor, after James B. Longley (1975–1979) and Angus King (1995–2003). He would be the first that is a former Republican; both Longley and King were previously Democrats.

Private sector

Bennett is the president and CEO of ValueEdge Advisors, a firm he founded in summer 2014 to help institutional investors engage with their portfolio companies. From 2006 to 2014 he was CEO of The Corporate Library and then chairman or vice chairman of GMI Ratings, its successor company, an independent research firm focusing on corporate governance, director/executive compensation, and forensic accounting. For six years, Bennett was included in the NACD Directorship's "100 most influential people" in the boardroom and corporate governance community.