Matthew Dunlap

Dunlap was born and raised in Bar Harbor, Maine, and graduated from Mount Desert Island High School.[2][3] He earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1987 and a master's degree in English literature in 1994 from the University of Maine, and also completed Harvard University's Senior Executives in State and Local Government program.[2][3]

Dunlap worked for 25 years as a journalist and columnist for The Northwoods Sporting Journal and other publications, and for nearly a year as executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. He has also worked in commercial food service, nonprofit administration, textiles, and farming.[2]

Dunlap served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1996 to 2004, representing Old Town (District 121), and chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.[1][3] The Legislature elected him Maine Secretary of State in 2004, and he served from 2005 to 2011; he was selected again in 2012 and served from 2013 to 2021. He was president of the National Association of Secretaries of State from 2010 to 2011.[1][2][3] In 2012 he finished second in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, behind Cynthia Dill.[3]

The Legislature elected Dunlap State Auditor in December 2020; he served briefly in 2021 and was selected again on November 14, 2022.[1][2][3] He announced a Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Jared Golden in October 2025, and Golden announced in November 2025 that he would not seek re-election. Dunlap won the June 9, 2026 Democratic primary in a ranked-choice runoff.[3][4] Dunlap is a founding board member of the Maine Youth Fish and Game Association and a past member of the University of Maine Board of Visitors and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra board. He lives in Old Town, Maine.[2][3]