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Nirav Shah concedes Maine Governor primary race
Shah led in first-choice votes but was overtaken after ranked-choice tabulations.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 19, Jun 2026
- 15:37 EDT
- 70
Nirav Shah / Screengrab from the ad
Former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah on June 19 conceded defeat in Maine's Democratic gubernatorial primary after ranked-choice voting elevated Hannah Pingree to the nomination.
"While it is not the result we hoped for, I want to express my gratitude for every person who believed in this campaign and in the better future we set out to build together," Shah said in a statement..
He said he called Pingree to congratulate her and pledged his support for her general election campaign.
Also Read: Nirav Shah holds narrow lead in Maine Democratic primary
"I was proud to call Hannah Pingree to congratulate her, and I want every Mainer to know I meant it with my whole heart," Shah said. "She ran a campaign of deep conviction and our state will be fortunate to have her carrying our banner into November."
— Nirav D. Shah (@nirav_maine) June 19, 2026
According to the Maine Secretary of State's Office ranked-choice voting tabulations completed early June 19, Pingree won the Democratic nomination with 56.2 percent of the vote to Shah's 43.8 percent in the fourth and final round of counting, a margin of 12.4 percentage points.
The result marked a dramatic turnaround from election night, when Shah emerged as the frontrunner with 26.8 percent of first-choice votes. Pingree followed with 22.9 percent, while former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson received 21.8 percent, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows secured 20.6 percent, and clean energy entrepreneur Angus King III finished with 8 percent.
Under Maine's ranked-choice voting system, candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated and their supporters' next preferences are redistributed. After King, Bellows and Jackson were eliminated, Pingree gained enough second- and third-choice support to overtake Shah and secure the nomination.
In his message, Shah also thanked the tens of thousands of supporters who backed his campaign, describing it as a grassroots effort built without the support of a political establishment.
"To everyone who believed in this campaign, I could not be prouder of what we built together," Shah said. "We started with no machine – only a conviction that Mainers were ready for someone who would show up, tell the truth, and fight for a better future."
The former public health official urged his supporters to unite behind Pingree in the general election, saying, "I will carry your faith in me for the rest of my life, and I hope you will carry that same faith now to Hannah, because she has earned it."
Shah also praised fellow Democratic candidates Troy Jackson, Shenna Bellows and Angus King III, calling them public servants who had given their best to the state.
Shah, who gained national recognition leading Maine's response to the COVID-19 pandemic before serving in senior leadership roles at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he would continue advocating for issues that motivated his campaign.
"I got into this race because, during the hardest days of the pandemic, I saw what this state is capable of when we refuse to leave anyone behind," Shah said. "That work is not finished. Affordability, housing, and the cost of health care are fights that outlast any one campaign or candidate, and I will keep working on them."
Pingree will face Republican nominee Bobby Charles and independent candidate Rick Bennett in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.
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