Four days before Maine Republicans choose a nominee for governor, signs are growing increasingly strong that it will be Bobby Charles — former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) in the first Trump Administration, someone who oversaw the training of the Iraqi police and fought drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere.
According to a just-completed SurveyUSA poll, first-time candidate Charles tops businessman Jonathan Bush (first cousin of George W. and Jeb) by 34 to 17 percent, followed by Planet Fitness CEO Ben Midgley and former State Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason with 10 percent each, and businessman Owen McCarthy 7 percent.
(Under Maine’s ranked-choice voting law, voters list their second choice for governor and if no one gets a majority in the primary, the bottom vote-getter is removed and the second-choice votes are counted until a candidate has a majority).
Much like Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Charles spells out — in detail — precisely what he intends to do should he succeed termed out Democrat Gov. Janet Mills this fall.
Charles, in fact, did almost that in a telephone interview with Newsmax Friday night on his way to a campaign event.
"Taxes are too high, senior citizens can’t afford the 36 percent increase in the cost of energy, and we’re losing young Mainers who move away for a better opportunity," he told us.
"That’s because we’ve been a one-party state for the last six years, so we’ve got to undo what has happened during that time." he said.
Specifically, Charles wants to make Maine the 12th state to abolish its income tax, oversee major property tax cuts, and roll back unfunded mandates on towns and municipalities.
"And I’m going to eliminate $500 million in waste and fraud," he told us, "and I know just how to do this because I saved taxpayers that amount overseeing State Department programs."
Noting grimly that there were 8,000 deaths from drug overdoses in Maine last year, Charles vowed to focus on capturing international gangs such as the Chinese Triad syndicate and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel who, he says, are responsible for infiltrating his state with narcotics.
While the nuances of such issues and the candidates' solutions may appear a bit wonkish for some, Charles — in the mold of Milei — nonetheless spells them out at town meetings and rallies throughout the state.
Asked which Democrat he preferred to face — former director of the State Center for Disease Control Nirav Shah or former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree — Charles fired back: "It doesn’t matter. They all share responsibility for the condition we’re in now."
As for the Democratic trend in the state in modern times, Charles says "I’m reaching out to the Democrats who loved Jack Kennedy and [Maine Sen. and 1968 Democratic vice presidential nominee] Ed Muskie.
"Yes, they’re still a lot of them out there. It’s just the leadership of the Democrats that has moved so far left," he said.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.