How does government work in Maine?

What may surprise you here

• The legislature, not voters, chooses the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer, by joint ballot every two years. source
• Maine has no lieutenant governor. If the governor’s office is vacant, the President of the Senate takes over. source
• Voters in each county elect judges and registers of probate, while other judges are appointed by the governor. source

Legislature

Name

Maine Legislature source

Senate: seats

35 source

Senate: term in years

2 source

House of Representatives: seats

151 source

House of Representatives: term in years

2 source

Term limits

8 years consecutive in each chamber (4 terms in the House or Senate) source

Structure set by: Maine Constitution, Article IV, Part First, Section 1.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

Ineligible to succeed self after 2 consecutive 4-year terms source

Next regular election

2030 source

Lieutenant governor

no such office source

Attorney general

chosen by legislature source

Attorney general’s term in years

2 source

Secretary of state

chosen by legislature source

Secretary of state’s term in years

2 source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Judicial Court source

Intermediate appeals court

None source

Main trial court

Superior Court source

How high-court judges reach the bench

gubernatorial appointment source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

16 source

Cities and towns

Maine’s municipalities are mostly towns, which the Census Bureau counts as township governments (461 towns) alongside 23 cities. source

Schools

Census Bureau counts 101 independent school district governments in Maine. source

Elections

Chief election official

Secretary of State source

Who runs elections locally

Municipal clerks source

Primary type

partially closed source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

yes source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Janet Mills DDemocratic, in office since January 2, 2019. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources