Rick Bennett

Bennett says he grew up in Yarmouth, where his father taught school, and that he and his wife, Karen, live in Oxford, where his family's roots go back more than 200 years.[3] He earned a B.A. from Harvard University in 1986 and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern Maine in 2000.[4] In the private sector he was chief executive of The Corporate Library from 2006 to 2014 and then chairman or vice chairman of its successor, the governance-research firm GMI Ratings; in 2014 he founded ValueEdge Advisors, where he is president and CEO.[1][4]

Bennett was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1990.[1] He was the Republican nominee for Maine's 2nd Congressional District in 1994, losing to Democrat John Baldacci, and was elected to the Maine Senate in 1996.[1] He served there until term limits in 2004, becoming Senate President in 2001 under a power-sharing arrangement between the parties.[1] In 2012 he sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate and lost the primary to Charlie Summers.[1] He was elected chair of the Maine Republican Party in July 2013 and served until 2017.[1]

Bennett returned to the Senate in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022 and 2024; the Legislature lists him as representing District 18.[1][5] On June 24, 2025, he announced that he would run for governor as an independent, ending his lifelong affiliation with the Republican Party.[1] His campaign says he chaired the successful ballot initiative banning foreign governments from spending in Maine elections.[6]